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ST.    AGNES. 

St.  Agnes,  the  virgin  martyr,  overcame  the  cruelty  of  the  tyrant  and  the  tenderness  of 
her  age.  She  died  under  the  persecution  of  Diocletian,  in  the  early  years  of  the  fourth  cen- 
tury, when  only  in  her  thirteenth  year,  rather  than  violate  the  consecration  of  her  virginity 
to  her  heavenly  spouse.  She  is  usually  represented  with  a  lamb,  the  emblem  of  inuoceuce, 
and  in  her  hand  the  palm  of  martyrdom. 


ST.     BUUNARD. 

St.  Bernard,  of  Clairvaux,  the  prodigy  and  great  ornament  of  the  eleventh  century,  was 
born  in  1091,  near  Dijon,  France,  of  a  noble  family.  From  his  very  birth,  his  mother  conse- 
crated him  to  the  service  of  God.  He  became  the  oracle  of  the  Church  and  the  reformer  of 
discipline^  and  his  pious  and  learned  writings  still  instruct  the  devout  and  edify  all. 


sr.  Ti;iti:s.v. 

Of  the  holy  women  whose  names  are  enshrined  in  the  Calendar  of  Saints,  there  are  few, 
if  any,  more  remarkable  than  St.  Teresa.  She  was  born  in  Castile,  Spain,  1515.  Her  won- 
derful success  in  her  enterprises  undertaken  for  the  divine  honor  she  attributed  to  the  divine 
light  and  aid  she  received  by  the  spirit  of  holy  pi-ayer.  Her  Life,  written  by  herself,  is  held 
in  high  esteem. 


ST.  ALOYSIVS,    OR    I.OUIS    OF    GONZAGA. 

St.  Aloysius  was  born  in  Brescia,  Italy,  in  1568.  Having  resigned  his  title  and  patrimony 
in  favor  of  his  brother,  he  entered  the  novitiate  of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  and  died  in  his 
twenty-fourth  year.  His  favorite  devotion  was  contemplation  of  the  sufferings  of  our  Lord, 
with  crucifix  in  hand.  The  cord  of  self-chastisement  and  the  rosary  were  his  companions  in. 
life,  and  the  crown  at  his  feet  his  reward  after  death. 


THE 


Faith  That  Never  Dies 


OR 


THE  PRIEST  OF  GOD 


IN 


THE  CATHOLIC  HOME 


How  to  Live  an  Meal  Gbristlan  Life  as  a  True  Follower  of  Gbrist 


COMPRISING 

INSXRUCTIONS   AND   DKVOTIONS 

IN 

The  Holy  Catholic  Faith 

With  Glorious  Lessons  from  the  Light  of  the  Cross 

FROM    THE    PENS    OF    MONSEIGNEUR    DE    S^GUR,    THOMAS    A    KEMPIS 

REV.  JOSEPH  DEHARBE,  SJ.,  AND  "A  MONK  OF  THE 

ORDER  OF  SAINT  BENEDICT" 

—PREFACED   WITH    AN    ADDRESS    BY— 

Arehbishop  Feehan  on  the  Catholic  Education  of  Youth 


THE   WHOLE   WRITTEN    IN    SIMPLE    LANGUAGE   AND   BEAUTIFULLY 
ILLUSTRATED   FOR   THE    INSTRUCTION    OF 

The  Catholic  Child  at  Mother's  Knee 

The  Catholic  Youth  in  the  Steps  of  Jesus 

and  The  Catholic  Parent  in  Defense  of  the  Faith 

Published  with  the  Approval  of  Many  Dignitaries  of  the  Church, 


CATHOLIC  BOOK  AND  PICTURE  COMPANY 
NEW  YORK  AND  CHICAGO 


D 


LOAN  STACK 

Co  ?atl)er$  and  iKotfters. 


HE  heart  of  a  child  is  as  wax,  capable  of  receiving  any  impression,  good 
or  bad  ;  it  is  as  plain  white  linen,  upon  which  all  colors  may  be  stamped. 
It  is  to  parents  that  God  has  intrusted  the  care  of  impressing  on  these 
young,  pure  hearts  all  true  and  virtuous  feelings — those  first  impres- 
sions which  are  never  completely  effaced.  If  they  are  careful  to  inculcate  in 
their  children  the  sentiment  of  duty,  the  love  and  fear  of  God,  a  horror  of  sin, 
and  the  necessity  of  religion,  they  lay  the  foundation  of  the  future  happiness  of 
these  little  ones  whom  the  providence  of  God  has  confided  to  their  care. 

9    9*9 

How  often  the  sorrow  and  trouble  by  which  fathers  and  mothers  are  over- 
whelmed toward  the  close  of  their  lives  is  trouble  which  they  have  entirely 
brought  upon  themselves  !  They  reap  what  they  have  sown  by  their  neglect,  their 
want  of  faith,  and  by  the  few  good  examples  with  which  they  surrounded  the 
early  youth  of  their  son,  or  of  their  daughter.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  how 
happy  and  peaceful  are  the  closing  years  of  life  to  the  father  and  mother  who 
have  spent  their  days  in  one  lifelong  endeavor  to  make  their  children  true  and 
earnest  Christians  I  They,  too,  shall  reap  what  they  have  sown  ;  fruits  of  peace 
and  joy  and  love,  of  which  death  itself  shall  not  be  able  to  deprive  them,  and 
which  shall  follow  them  even  unto  the  bosom  of  their  God. — From  Monseigneur 
De  SSgur. 


Copyrighted,  1900,  by  J.  C.  Cubtin. 


Notice.— This  book  is  not  for  sale  in  book-stores,  and  can  only  be  obtained  through  authorized 
agents  at  the  published  price. 


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Dei  ef  Apostolicae      ^^         Sedis  Gratia 


SOLIO    PONTIFICIO    A88I8TEN8 


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TESTIMONIALS 

FROM  THE  CATHOLIC  HIERARCHY  FOR  MONSEIGNEUR  DE  SCOUR'S 

GREAT  WORK 


From  His  Excellency  Archbishop  Maf  tinetli» 

Apostolic  Delegate: J;_ '^ o^ 

I  have  received  the  new  volume  which  you  published.     I  am  very 
thankful  to  you  for  your  kindness  in  sending  it,  and  I  hope  it  will  be 
very  useful  for  the  people.     With  esteem  I  remain, 
Yours  sincerely, 

83  SEBASTIAN,  Archbishop  of  Eph^sus, 
Apostolic  Delegate. 

From  the  Right  Rev«  Bishop  of  Denver ; 

.     .     .     The  fact  that  it  bears  the  Imprimatur  of  His  Grace  of  New 
York  and  comes  from  the  powerful  pen  of  Monseigneur  de  S^gur  is 
enough  to  open  the  door  of  every  Catholic  American  for  its  reception. 
Very  sincerely  yours, 

gg  N.  C.  MATZ. 

From  the  Right  Rev*  Bishop  of  Ogdensbur g  x 

The  name  of  Monseigneur  de  S^gur,  some  of  whose  writings  nearly 
fill  it,  vouches  for  the  solidity  of  the  contents.  I  trust  it  will  be 
scattered  widely  among  the  people  and  produce  abundant  fruits  of 
enlightenment  and  edification. 

Sincerely  yours  in  Jesus  Christ, 

88  H.  GABRIELS. 

From  the  Right  Rev«  Bishop  of  Newark ; 

It  is  a  very  good  and  useful  book,  that  can  be  read  with  profit  by 
both  Catholic  and  non-Catholic. 

With  best  wishes,  I  am,  yours  very  sincerely, 

©  W.  M.  WIGGER. 

From  the  Right  Rev,  Bishop  of  La  Crosse : 

It  is  indeed  an  excellent  book  for  instruction  and  edification.     It 
ought  to  be  in  every  Catholic  family  of  the  land. 
Very  sincerely  yours, 

©  JAMES  SCHWEBACH. 

From  the  Right  Rev«  Bishop  of  Boise  t 

I  have  perused  it  as  carefully  as  I  could.     I  am  well  pleased  with 
it,  and  recommend  it  very  highly,  especially  to  the  laity. 
Yours  truly,  in  Christ, 

gB  A.  J.  GLORIEUX. 


From  the  Right  Rev>  Bishop  of  Natchez  t 

It  seems  to  present  a  variety  of  good  reading  in  doctrinal  and  plooS 
matters,  and  the  illustrations  appear  very  good,  unusually  so.  .  .  . 
Thanking  you,  and  wishing  you  every  success, 

Yours  faithfully,  gg  T.  HESI/IN. 

From  the  Right  Rev«  Bishop  of  Cleveland : 

The  compilation  is  good.  De  S^gur's  works  I  know  well,  having 
read  them  in  the  original  years  ago.  Truly  yours, 

®  IGN.  F.  HORSTMANN. 

From  the  Right  "Rev*  Bishop  of  Vheeling: 

I  was  pleased  with  it,  and  think  and  hope  that  it  will  accomplish 
good.     May  it  have  a  large  circulation. 

■Yours  faithfully  in  Christ, 

88  p.  J.  DONAHUE. 

From  the  Right  Rev*  Bishop  of  Lotiisvillet 

For  the  young  it  will  be  an  instructive  supplementary,  so  to  say,  to 
their  Catechism  and  First  Communion  exercises  ;  for  adults  it  helps 
to  bring  back  vividly  before  their  minds  what  they  have  forgotten  of 
sound  Catholic  doctrine,  and  thus  serve  to  renew  in  their  hearts 
principles,  which  should  never  be  allowed  to  be  long  absent  from  the 
memory, — and  in  some  sense  disappear  from  Catholic  life  and  practice. 

Blending,  as  the  work  does,  so  easily  and  so  naturally  instructions 
on  the  Sacraments,  the  Commandments,  short  Lives  of  the  Saints, 
extracts  from  Thomas  k  Kempis  and  bits  of  Church  History,  it  forms 
a  Compendium  of  useful  reading  which,  it  could  be  wished,  might, 
find  a  place  in  every  Catholic  household. 

®  W.  G.  McCLOSKBY. 

From  the  Right  Rev«  Bishop  of  Leavenwor th»  Kansas  t 

I  must  say  that  it  is  a  beautiful  book,  serviceable  to  both  priest  and 
layman,  which  cannot  be  read  without  great  spiritual  benefit  and 
great  pleasure,  and  I  most  heartily  recommend  it  to  the  priests  and 
people  of  my  diocese.  Yours  very  respectfully, 

88  ly.  N.  FINK. 

From  the  Right  Rev«  Bishop  of  Davenpof t»  Iowa  s 

I  consider  it  an  excellent  work  for  popular  use,  and  would  like  to 
see  it  in  every  Catholic  family  in  the  diocese. 

I  remain  very  sincerely  yours, 

88  HENRY  COSGROVE. 

From  the  Right  Rev*  Bishop  of  Wichita»  Kansas  t 

From  a  glance  at  the  volume  and  considering  the  well  known 
merits  of  the  works  of  Abbe  De  S^gur,  I  am  confident  it  will  be  a 
welcome  visitor  in  many  families.     I  fuUy  recommend  the  book. 

Sincerely  yours,        gg  JOHN  J.  HENNESSY. 


Ffom  the  Diocese  of  London^  Ontar io : 

It  is  full  of  most  important  matter,  beautifully  presented.  I  take 
very  much  pleasure  in  subscribing  for  it,  as  I  believe  this  work  should 
be  in  the  library  of  every  priest  as  well  as  found  in  every  Catholic 
family  of  this  country.  Yours  most  respectfully, 

St.  Peter's  Palace,  London,  Ontario.  REV.  M.  J.  BRADY. 


From  the  Right  Rev«  Vicar  Apostolic  of 
North  Carolina  i ^ J^ ^ 

The  volume  forms  a  very  useful  little  library  in  itself,  and  deserves 
to  be  recommended  to  all  who  desire  to  know  something  of  Catholic 
doctrine  and  practice. 
Wishing  you  a  very  extended  sale, 

I  am,  sincerely  yours, 

)5(  LEO  HAID,  O.  S.  B. 

From  the  Very  Rev,  President  of  Augostin- 
ian  College  of    St»  Thomas  of  Villannoa: 

.     .     .     I  believe  it  will  be  most  acceptable  to  all  concerned,  and 
should  have  a  large  circulation.  Yours  ver)'  gratefully, 

L.  A.  DELUREY,  O.  S.  A. 


From  the  Right  Rev*  Bishop  of  San  Antonio  t 

The  Right  Rev.  Bishop  of  San  Antonio  lays  on  me  the  pleasant 
duty  of  returning  you  his  most  sincere  thanks  for  the  work  you  were 
so  kind  to  send  him.  His  Lordship  prays  to  Almighty  God  that  He 
may  bless  and  reward  the  generous  endeavor  you  make  to  spread  the 
wholesome  Truth.  Yours  very  sincerely, 

J.  B.  E.  AUDET,  Chancellor. 


From  the  Most  Rev»  Archbishop  of  Toronto : 

.     .     .     Your  late  publication  is  a  very  important  work,  and  calcu- 
lated to  do  a  great  deal  of  good.     .     .     .     With  best  wishes. 
Yours  very  truly, 

®  JOHN  WALSH. 


From  the  Right  Rev*  Bishop  of  Sacramento ; 

It  is  a  very  useful  and  comprehensive  work  and  must  be  very  profit- 
able among  the  people.  Yours  sincerely, 

©  THOMAS  GRAU. 


From  the  Right  Rev.  Bishop  of  Duluth ; 

I  can  certainly  recommend  so  excellent  a  work  for  family  reading. 
I  hope  that  the  practical  instructions  contained  in  the  book  may 
become  ■widely  known  to  all  our  people.        Yours  sincerely, 

88  JAMES  McGOLRICK. 


PREFACE. 


«<The  Faith  That  Never  Dies;  or,  The  Priest  of  God  in  the  Catholic 
Home,"  is  the  work  of  able  and  zealous  men  of  God — men  whose  lives  were 
consecrated  to  the  upbuilding  of  the  Faith  and  the  saving  of  Souls. 

The  present  volume  is  peculiarly  designed  to  carry  the  lamp  of  Faith  to  the 
very  fireside  of  the  Catholic  home.  The  work  furnishes  a  course  of  Christian 
instruction  for  every  member  of  the  family  circle,  in  order  that  all  shall  be 
tlioroughly  grounded  in  the  teachings  of  the  Church. 

As  the  family  is  the  unit  of  the  community  and  of  the  State,  so  is  it  also  of 
the  Church.  Hence  it  is  the  earnest  object  of  the  Priest,  as  the  guide  and 
guardian  of  the  Catholic  home,  to  foster  and  inculcate  the  practice  of  home 
teaching  in  religious  truths,  and  in  the  preparation  of  the  minds  of  children  for 
the  fuller  and  more  complete  reception  of  the  doctrines  of  the  Church  at  a  later 
period.  It  is  the  duty  of  parents  to  assist  the  Priest  in  his  sacred  mission  ;  to 
prepare  the  minds  and  souls  of  their  children  for  the  mysterious  seed  that  will 
be  sown  through  the  grace  of  the  Sacraments.  In  this  pious  duty  they  may  be 
truly  said  to  share  in  the  salvation  of  souls  with  the  Priest — "alter  Christus  ;  " 
and,  in  the  words  of  St.  Augustine,  predestine  the  salvation  of  their  own  souls 
by  saving  those  of  others. 

The  religious  influences  experienced  in  early  life  amid  home  associations  at 
the  mother's  knee  are  never  or  rarely  eradicated.  When  the  mind  is  plastic  and 
the  heart  pure,  impressions  are  not  only  more  readily  received,  but  longer 
retained.  And  the  memory  of  the  instruction  received  from  the  parent  is 
identified  with  such  tender  emotions  and  recollections  as  never  wholly  to  be- 
come effaced  in  after  life,  even  though  it  may  be  partially  forgotten  for  a  time. 
Hence,  the  grave  responsibility  resting  on  parents,  in  regard  to  home  religious 
education  and  teaching  for  their  children,  with  whose  spiritual  and  temporal 
welfare  they  are  charged  by  Providence,  and  for  which  they  will  be  held 
accountable. 

It  is  by  the  holy  education  of  their  children,  says  a  learned  and  pious 
author,  that  parents  perpetuate  on  earth  the  honor  of  their  Creator  to  future 
ages,  and  sanctify  their  own  souls.  And  St.  Paul  says  that  it  is  by  the  educa- 
tion of  their  children  that  parents  are  to  be  saved.  Nevertheless,  we  often  see 
parents  unduly  solicitous  to  procure  for  their  children  an  establishment  in  the 
world  ;  yet  supinely  careless  in  fortifying  them  in  virtue,  in  which  alone  true 
happiness  consists. 

The  subsequent  teaching  of  the  pastor,  and  the  instruction  in  the  parochial 
school  cannot   bear  adequate  results,  if  the  early  religious  home  teaching  is 

ill 


PREFACE. 


neglected  or  omitted.  His  Eminence  Cardinal  Gibbons  aptly  observes,  in  this 
relation,  '<that  while  home  life  would  not,  as  a  rule,  be  sufficient  to  supply  the 
absence  of  good  or  counteract  the  evil  of  dangerous  influences  in  the  school,  it  is 
equally  true  that  all  that  the  Christian  school  could  accomplish  would  be  inade. 
quate  without  the  cooperation  of  the  Christian  home.  Christian  schools  sow  the 
seed,  but  Christian  homes  must  first  prepare  the  soil,  and  afterwards  foster  the 
seed  and  bring  it  to  maturity." 

The  only  sure  and  practical  method  of  building  a  Christian  community, 
obedient  to  the  teachings  of  the  Church  and  loyal  in  duty  to  the  State,  is  to  be 
sought  in  the  religious  education  of  youth. 

The  first  portion  of  this  work  is  by  Monseigneur  de  S^gur,  the  celebrated 
expounder  of  Catholic  faith  and  doctrine,  whose  works  on  these  and  kindred 
subjects  have  been  translated  into  most  European  languages.  The  writings  of 
this  learned  and  captivating  writer  have  been  specially  commended  to  Catholics 
by  the  Holy  Father.  This  portion  of  the  volume  comprises  a  full  course  of 
Christian  doctrine  and  practice,  happily  written  in  a  most  charming  and  enter- 
taining style,  with  wonderful  simplicity  and  directness,  and  withal  a  thorough- 
ness adapted  alike  to. the  simplest  as  well  as  to  the  most  learned  mind.  In  his 
method  of  .presenting  parables  and  miracles,  and  anecdotes  or  illustrations  from 
Christian  life,  the  reader  will  find  much  to  edify  and  to  instruct. 

The  History  of  Religion  from  the  Creation  of  the  World,  by  that  learned 
Jesuit,  Father  Deharbe,  embraces  a  special  series  of  questions  for  the  young  ar- 
ranged at  the  foot  of  each  page,  and  numbered  to  correspond  with  the  main 
paragraphs.  These  questions  afford  a  helpful  method  of  grasping  and  mem- 
orizing the  substance  of  the  contents. 

The  selections  from  St.  Thomas  i  Kempis,  whose  writings,  next  to  the  in- 
spired "Word  of  God,  have  been  recommended  by  the  Church,  will  furnish 
admirable  subjects  for  pious  meditation  and  holy  guidance. 

An  instructive  address  on  the  Catholic  education  of  youth,  from  the  pen  of 
the  most  Rev.  Archbishop  Feehan,  of  Chicago,  appropriately  prefaces  the  whole, 
and  will  be  found  illustrative  of  the  subject-matter  of  this  volume,  and  shows 
the  great  necessity  of  parental  instruction  in  the  Catholic  home. 

In  short,  the  present  work  has  been  specially  designed  as  a  cyclopaedia  of 
household  instruction  in  the  doctrines  and  practice  of  religion  for  Catholic 
families.  As  such,  it  is  presented  in  a  simple,  charming,  and  beautiful  form,, 
suited  to  persons  of  every  station  and  to  both  sexes — young  and  old. 

The  many  high  indorsements  which  these  pages  have  already  received,  fromi 
the  authorities  of  the  Church,  bespeak  for  the  work  of  these  devoted  Priests  of 
God  a  warm  welcome  in  every  Catholic  home  in  our  land. 

Jeremiah  C.   Curtin.. 


<«e«^^ 


THE  FAITH  THAT  NEVER  DIES 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 


Paob. 

Preface,  . .         .         .         iii 

Table  of  Contents,  .........  v 

Archbishop  Feehan  on  Catholic  Education  of  Youth,      ....        xiii 

The  Parental  Blessing  in  the  Christian  Home, xvii 

THE  PRIEST  OF  GOD  IN  THE  CATHOLIC  HOME 

FIRST  PART. 

True  Knowledge,  .        .        •        •        •        •••        •        •        .5 

On  the  Nature  of  Religion,     , •        •        •      7 

Death, ••••9 

The  Soul  and  the  Body, 11 

Religion,        .......•••••12 

A  Brief  Explanation  of  the  Christian  Religion,        .        •        •        •        •    15 

I  Believe, •        •        •    16 

Whether  We  must  Believe  what  We  Cannot  Understand,  •        •        .18 

On  the  Existence  of  God, •        .    20 

God, 22 

Divine  Providence,  ...•••••••24 

An  Anecdote  of  God's  Provideace,  •••••••26 

The  Devil, 27 

The  Blessed  Virgin, 29 

Mary  Immaculate, ••        .31 

The  Annunciation  and  the  Incarnation,    .        •        •        •        •        •        ,34 
Bethlehem  and  the  Child  Jesus,      .•••••••37 

Nazareth, •••39 

Jesus  Christ, ••••••42 

The  Miracles  of  Jesus  Christ,  ••••••••44 

Christ  Crucified,     ., ••••60 

The  Resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ,   .•••••••53 

The  Ascension  of  Our  Lord,    .,•••••••58 

Pentecost  and  the  Holy  Spirit^         .••••••.     59 

The  Gospel,  ....••••••        w        .     61 


Ti  TABLE   OF  CONTENTS. 

Pack? 

The  Assumption  of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  .••,,,,     65 

The  Church, 67 

The  Catholic  Church, ,        ,        ,        ,69 

Organization  of  the  Church,    ...•.,,,,71 

The  Pope, 73 

Which  is  the  True  Church  of  Jesus  Christ?     .,,,,,    76 

In  What  Sense  the  Church  is  Holy, ,        .     77 

On  Miracles, ••,78 

Truth  and  Error, 81 

Catholic  and  Protestant, •        ,        ,     82 

A  Few  Further  Eemarks  upon  Protestantism, 84 

Angels  and  Saints, ,         •        ,     86 

The  Souls  in  Purgatory,  ....,,,,.     90 

The  Judgment, •        •        ,     93 

Life  Eternal, •••,95 

SECOND  PAET. 

The  Sacraments,    .•.,..,,,,,98 

Baptism, •••.  101 

Confirmation, 103 

Holy  Eucharist, 105 

Figures  Prophetic  of  the  Holy  Eucharist^         .        ,        ,        .        ,        .  107 

Institution  of  the  Eucharist, .  108 

On  the  Keal  Presence  of  Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  the  Holy  Eucharist,     .  110 

The  Blessed  Sacrament^ 112 

Penance, 114 

The  Two  Tribunals, 116 

The  Safety  Valve, 121 

Pastor  Atger  and  Confession,          ,        •        , 124 

Extreme  Unction,           ..•••••«,.  125 

The  Fear  of  Extreme  Unction,        ,•••••••  127 

Holy  Orders, 131 

The  Priest, ' 133 

The  Ecclesiastical  Vocation,    .••••••••  135 

Matrimony, ••••..  139 

Before  Marriage, ••••,.  141 

The  Marriage  Day,         .,.••,••••  144 

After  Marriage, .••,*.  147 

THIED  PAET. 

What  It  Is  to  be  a  Christian, 150 

Why  so  Many  Upright  People  Fail  to  Fulfil  Their  Eeligious  Duties,  .  152 

The  Eeligion  of  the  Honest  Man, 153 

Fear  of  Human  Opinion,         .,.....••  155 


TABLE   OF   CONTENTS.  VU 

Paoh 

Negligence, ••*.«.  156 

"I  Have  no  Time," 157 

Business  Before  All  Things, *••  160 

On  the  Folly  of  Delay, 162 

Christian  Morality,         ., 164 

Concerning  Conscience,  •••• 166 

The  Grace  of  God, 168 

The  Best  State, 169 

Christian  Life  and  Christian  Virtues, 171 

Sin  and  Vices, -173 

The  Decalogue, ••••..  176 

The  Commandments  of  the  Church,  .•••.*.  177 

Moses  and  the  Ten  Commandments  of  God, 179 

The  First  Commandment  of  God, 181 

Prayer, •.••  183 

Faith  and  Patience  in  Prayer,  ,         •        •        •        •         •         •         •  186 

The  Great  Mission  of  Prayer, 187 

The  Second  Commandment  of  God,  ••••«..  189 

The  Third  Commandment  of  God, 192 

The  Fourth  Commandment  of  God,  ..•••••  194 

To  Fathers  and  Mothers,         . 197 

Early  Education, •        •         •         .         .  199 

The  Second  Education, 201 

The  Fifth  Commandment  of  God, .  202 

Suicide, 205 

Scandal, 208 

The  Sixth  Commandment  of  God,   .••••«..  210 
Drunkenness,  ...••••»••.  212 

The  Seventh  Commandment  of  God,        ••••...  214 

Theft, 217 

The  Eighth  Commandment  of  God,  •••••..  220 

The  Ninth  Commandment  of  God, .  222 

The  Tenth  Commandment  of  God, 224 

The  Commandments  of  the  Church,  .••••..  226 

First  Commandment  of  the  Church, 226 

Second  Commandment  of  the  Church,      . 228 

Lent, 230 

The  Third  and  Fourth  Commandments  of  the  Church,      ....  232 

The  Easter  Communion, 234 

The  Fifth  and  Sixth  Commandments  of  the  Church,         ....  236 

The  Enigma  of  Life, 236 

The  Secret  of  Happiness,        .         .         .         .         •         •         •         «         .  239 

Pleasure  and  Happiness, 240 

To  Those  Who  Suffer, 242 


Viii  TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 

PaoC 
What  Have  I  Done  that  God  should  Send  Me  so  Much  Suffering?     .        ,  244 

On  Patience  in  Sickness, 246 

Compensations, •.  248 

In  What  True  Happiness  Consists,  ••••••.  249 

Little  Virtues, •        .  261 

Meekness, •••••.  252 

Humility, ••••••.  255 

"  Blessed  are  the  Poor  in  Spirit," 258 

FOUETH  PART. 

The  Sign  of  the  Cross, •        •        •        «  260 

On  Eeverence  for  the  Sign  of  the  Cross,  •••••.  262 

The  Pater  Noster, 263 

The  Ave  Maria,      ...••••••..  269 

The  Credo, 274 

The  Confiteor, ,        ,         ,         .  276 

The  Rosary, 278 

The  Mass, 280 

The  Ceremonies  of  the  Church,       .••.••..  282 

The  Churches ,         ,         .  285 

The  Altars  and  Sacred  Vessels,        ........  266 

Explanation  of  the  Ceremonies  of  the  Mass: 

The  Sacred  Vestments, .         .         .288 

From  the  Commencement  to  the  Epistle, 290 

From  the  Epistle  to  the  Canon,         .••....  293 

From  the  Canon  to  the  End, 295 

The  Ceremonies  of  High  Mass, 298 

The  Gloria  in  Excelsis;  Gloria  in  Excelsis  Deo^ 301 

Vespers  and  Benediction, 302 

The  Psalms, 306 

The  Dixit  Dominus, 309 

Laudate,  Pueri,  Dominum, 313 

The  De  Profundis, 315 

The  Magnificat, 318 

The  Lamps  of  the  Blessed  Sacramenl^     .......  323 

Indulgences  and  Jubilees, •         .  325 

The  Scapular, 327 

The  Third  Order  of  St.  Francis, 329 

FIFTH  PAET. 

The  Resurrection  of  Lazarus,  ........  336 

The  Blind  Man  of  Jericho, •         •  337 

The  Man  Born  Blind, 339 

The  Risen  Jesus  and  Mary  Magdalen, •        •  342 


TABLE   OF  CONTENTS.  ix 

Paob 

Zachens, ••.  843 

The  Eepentance  of  Magdalen, •        .  345 

The  Widow's  Mite, .  347 

The  Father  of  a  Family,         .........  349 

The  Prodigal  Son,  . 351 

The  Field  and  the  Good  Seed, 354 

The  Parable  of  the  Samaritan,         ........  357 

Lazarus  and  the  Eich  Man,     .........  359 

St.  Peter  Delivered  by  the  Angel, 361 

Miraculous  Conversion  of  St.  Paul,  .         •         ,         .         ,         .         ,  862 

SIXTH  PART. 

Pierre,  the  Apprentice,  ......,««.  866 

Conversion  and  Death  of  a  Young  Protestant^ 369 

The  Regeneration  of  a  Parish, 374 

Execution  of  the  Carabineer  Guth,  .......  377 

The  Biter  Bitten, 379 

General  Cambronne,        ..........  382 

The  History  of  an  Old  Beggar—The  Old  Man,        ....  385,  387 

The  Caliph,  the  Shepherd,  and  Happiness,       ......  390 

The  Martyrdom  of  St.  Cecilia,  St.  Valerian,  and  St.  Tibnrtiua,         .         .  394 

The  Catacombs  of  Eome, 400 

Souvenirs  of  Rome — St.  Peter's, 403,  410 

The  Daily  Life  of  the  Pope,    ,..,,....  413 

The  Pretended  Scandals  of  Eome,  ........  416 

Two  Jubilees — The  Propagation  of  the  Faith,  ....  419,  420 

The  Work  of  the  Holy  Infancy, 423 

The  Catholic  Association  of  St.  Francis  of  Sales,      .....  423 

The  Little  Savoyards — Fenelon  and  Poor  Pierot, 426,  423 

Saved  by  the  Memory  of  His  First  Communion,       .....  431 
Martyrdom  of  the  Soldiers  Processus  and  Martinian,         ....  433 

The  Martyr  Gironimo,    . 436 

The  Last  Moments  and  Death  of  St.  Charles  Borromeo,    ....  439 

A  Convict's  Letter,         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .  444 

The  Admirable  Martyrdom  of  the  Venerable  Auguste  Chapdelaine  and  Two 

Other  Cbristians  of  China,        ........  448 

Martyrdom  of  the  Young  Polish  Priest  Stanislaus  Iszora,         .        .         .  454 

Kind  Actions  are  Never  Unrewarded, 458 

A  Little  Candle  to  Mary— The  Little  Euchology,     ....  461,  462 

A  Mistake, 464 

False  Piety, 467 

First  Communion,  ......•••.  468 

Have  Confidence  in  Mary,        .....•••.  470 

Our  Lady  of  Victories,    .•«..»••..  473 


SEVENTH  PART. 

A  CONQSE  AND  COMPREHENSIVE  HISTORY 

OF  RELIGION 

Pagk 
The  History  Before  Christ. 

I.  From  the  Creation  of  the  World  to  Moses  :  1 .  From  the  Crea- 
tion of  the  World  to  Abraham.      2.   From  Abraham  to  Moses. 

II.  From  Moses  to  Christ :  1.  From  Moses  to  Saul.  2.  From 
Saul  to  the  End  of  the  Babylonian  Captivity — The  Expecta- 
tion of  a  Redeemer  of  Mankind,    ......  475-483 

The  History  op  Christ. 

1.  The  Birth  of  Jesus  Christ — His  Hidden  Life — His  Public 
Ministry.  2.  The  Institution  of  the  Sacrament  of  the  Altar — 
The  Passion  and  Death  of  Jesus.  3.  The  Burial — The  Resur- 
rection— The  Ascension,          .......  484-488 

The  History  After  Christ. 

I.   From  the  Ascension  of  Christ  to  the  Conversion  of  Constantine  : 

1.  The  Apostles  Preach  the  Gospel.     2.   The  Triumph  of  the 
Church  over  Paganism  throughout  the  Roman  Empire,    .         .   488-492 

.  II.  From  the  Conversion  of  Constantine  to  the  Rise  of  Protes- 
tantism in  the  Sixteenth  Century  :  1.  The  Church  Triumphs 
over   Heresies — The   Fathers   of   the   Church — The    Hermits. 

2.  The  Church  Triumphs  over  the  Barbarians  of  the  North — 
Christianity  in  Germany-^The  Church  in  the  East — Mohammed 

3.  The    Crusades.     4.   Ecclesiastical    Studies — The    Religious 
Orders — Heresies — The  Investiture  Controversy,      .         .         .   492-500 

III.  From  the  Rise  of  Protestantism  in  the  Sixteenth  Century  to 
Our  Time :  1.  Innovations  in  Religio^ — Divisions  among 
Those  who  Promoted  Them.  2.  The  Efforts  of  the  Church  in 
Favor  of  Peace  Rejected  by  the  False  Teachers — Religious 
Wars — Civil  Wars.  3.  Extension  of  the  Church  among  Pagans 
— Persecutions — Martyrs.  4.  Religious  Orders  and  Congrega- 
tions— Saints  in  the  Church.  5.  The  Spread  of  Infidelity — 
The  French  Revolution.  6.  The  Influence  of  the  French  Revo- 
lutions in  Other  Countries — The  Revival  in  the  Church,  .   503-511 

Concluding  Remarks  on  the  Historical  Argument  for  the  Truth 

OF  Christianity,       .........   512-515 

Chronological  Succession  op  the  Popes,        .....   516-518 
The  Story  of  the  Passion  of  Our  Blessed  Lord  and  Master,    .  519-534 


EIGHTH  PART. 

GLORIOUS  LESSONS  FROM  THE  LIGHT  OF 
THE  CROSS* 

Page 
Introduction, 535 

Prayer  for  the  Grace  of  Devotion,  .         .         .         .         .         .         .         ,536 

Examples  of  the  Holy  Fathers,        .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .536 

"He  that  Followeth  Me  Not  Walketh  in  Darkness,"         .         .         .         .537 

Of  the  Doctrine  of  Truth, 538 

On  Reading  the  Holy  Scriptures,       .         .         .         .         .         .         .   54 1 

Of  Avoiding  Vain  Hope  and  Arrogance,   .         .         .         .         .         .541 

Of  Obedience  and  Subjection,   .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .542 

Of  Avoiding  Superfluity  of  "Words,  .......   543 

Of  Acquiring  Peace  and  Zeal  for  Our  Spiritual  Progress,    .         .         .  544 

Of  Resisting  Temptations,         .          .         .         .         .         .         .         .545 

Of  Avoiding  Rash  Judgment,  .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .547 

Of  Works  Done  Out  of  Charity, 548 

Of  Bearing  the  Defects  of  Others,     .         .         .         .         .         .         .549 

Of  the  Thoughts  of  Death, 550 

Of  Judgment,  and  the  Punishments  of  Sinners,  ....   553 

Of  the  Fervent  Amendment  of  Our  Whole  Life,         .          .         .         .556 

Of  the  Royal  Road  of  the  Holy  Cross,        ......   559 

Of   the    Obedience   of   a   Humble   Subject — The   Example   of   Jesus 

Christ, 564 

That  there  is  No  Being  Secure  from  Temptation  in  This  Life,  .  .565 
Of  the  Good  Government  of  Ourselves  in  Outward  Things,  and  of 

Having  Recourse  to  God  in  Danger,   .  .         .         .         .         .566 

Of  the  Day  of  Eternity  and  of  the  Distresses  of  This  Life,  .  .567 
That  "We  Ought  to  Deny  Ourselves,  and  Imitate  Christ  by  the  Cross,    .   570 

The  Voice  of  Christ, 571 

"With  How  Great  Reverence  Christ  Ought  to  be  Received,  .          .572 

That  the  Great  Goodness  and  Love  of  God  are  Shown  to  Man  in  This 

Sacrament,        ..........   576 

That  it  is  Profitable  to  Communicate  Often,        .....   578 

Many  Benefits  Bestowed  on  Those  "Who  Communicate  Devoutly,  .   580 

Of  the  Dignity  of  the  Sacrament,  and  of  the  Priestly  State,        .  .582 

A  Self- interrogation  Concerning  Proper  Exercise  Before  Communion,  584 
Of  the  Examination  of  Our  Own  Conscience,  and  of  a  Resolution  of 

Amendment,     ..........   584 

Of  the  Oblation  of  Christ  on  the  Cross,   and  of  the  Resignation  of 

Ourselves,         ..........   586 

That  We   Must  OfEer  Ourselves,   and  All   that  is  Ours,  to  God  and 

Pray  for  All, 587 

That  the  Holy  Communion  is  Not  Lightly  to  Be  Forborne,  .         .589 

zi 


The  Example  of  Our  Blessed  Lord 

ND  they  brought  to  Him  young  children,  that  He  might 
touch  them.  And  the  disciples  rebuked  them  that  brought 
them. 

And  when  Jesus  saw  it,  He  was  much  displeased,  and 
said  to  them :  Suffer  the  little  children  to  come  to  Me,  and  forbid 
them  not:  for  of  such  is  the  kingdom  of  God. — St.  Mark  x.  13-16. 

On  the  Duty  of  the  Christian  Mother 

St.  Monica,  before  the  birth  of  the  great  St.  Augustine,  dedicated 
him  by  frequent  oblations  to  the  Christian  religion,  and  to  the  ser- 
vice and  glory  of  God,  as  he  himself  witnesses,  saying :  "  That  he 
hath  already  tasted  the  salt  of  God  in  his  mother's  womb."  This  is 
a  great  lesson  for  Christian  women  to  offer  up  to  His  Divine  Majesty 
the  fruit  of  their  wombs,  even  before  they  come  into  the  world ;  for 
God,  who  accepts  the  offerings  of  an  humble  and  willing  heart,  com- 
monly at  that  time  seconds  the  affections  of  mothers;  witness 
Samuel,  St.  Thomas  of  Aquin,  St.  Andrew  of  Fiesola,  and  divers 
others.  The  mother  of  St.  Bernard,  a  mother  worthy  of  such  a  son, 
as  soon  as  her  children  were  born,  took  them  in  her  arms,  and  offered 
them  up  to  Jesus  Christ,  and  from  thenceforward  loved  them  with 
respect,  as  things  consecrated  and  entrusted  to  her  by  God ;  which 
succeeded  so  happily  to  her  that  in  the  end  the  whole  seven  became 
very  holy.  But  when  children  begin  to  have  the  use  of  reason,  both 
their  fathers  and  mothers  ought  to  take  great  care  to  imprint  the 
fear  of  God  in  tbeir  hearts.  The  good  Queen  Blanche  performed  this 
oflfice  fervently  with  regard  to  the  King  St.  Louis,  her  son ;  she  often 
said  to  him:  "I  had -much  rather,  my  dear  child,  see  you  die  before 
my  eyes,  than  see  you  commit  even  one  mortal  sin ;"  which  caution 
remained  so  deeply  engraved  on  his  soul  that,  as  he  himself  related, 
not  one  day  of  his  life  passed  in  which  he  did  not  remember  it,  and 
take  all  possible  care  strictly  to  observe  it.  Families  and  generations 
in  our  language  are  called  houses ;  and  even  the  Hebrews  called  the 
generations  of  children  the  building  up  of  a  house;  for  it  is  in  this 
sense  it  is  said  that  God  built  houses  for  the  midwives  of  Egypt. 
Now,  this  is  to  show  that  the  raising  of  a  house  or  family  consists 
not  in  storing  up  a  quantity  of  worldly  goods,  but  in  the  good  edu- 
cation of  children  in  the  fear  of  God,  and  in  virtue,  in  which  no 
pains  or  labors  ought  to  be  spared,  for  children  are  the  crown  of  their 
parents. — St,  Francis  de  Sales. 


On  tbe... 


CatDollc  education  of  youti) 

...  Bp ... 

Cbe  FRost  Reo.  Patrick  R.  f  ecbati 

Jlrcl)bi$l>op  of  Cbicago 

♦:  :♦:  :♦:  :♦:  :♦:  :♦:  :♦:  :♦:  :♦:  :♦ 

We  are  assembled  to-day,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  in  a  very  noble 
cause.  We  are  come  together  as  Catholics,  and  as  good  citizens 
also.  We  are  assembled  as  Catholics,  deeply  and  earnestly  interested 
in  that  great  cause — and  I  may  say  one  of  the  greatest  of  causes, — 
that  of  the  Catholic  education  of  youth.  And  because  we  are  inter- 
ested in  the  matter  of  education  in  its  great,  grand,  true  sense,  there- 
fore are  we  also  assembled  as  good  citizens  of  the  Eepublic ;  because 
we  believe  most  thoroughly  that  the  more  perfect  the  education  of 
the  young  in  every  true  sense,  the  more  perfect  will  be  the  order  of 
citizenship  in  this  great  country. 

As  we  know  that  the  stream  coming  from  the  mountain  bears 
with  it  its  own  purity  and  freshness,  so  this  great  intellectual  train- 
ing and  education  of  the  young,  coming  from  the  first  fountain  and 
the  purest  of  all  knowledge — that  fountain  of  Eeligion — we  believe 
must  give  to  the  young  its  own  freshness,  its  own  holiness,  its  own 
beauty,  its  own  completion  and  finish. 

Within  a  few  months  there  has  arisen  here  this  wonderful  exhi- 
bition of  man's  enterprise  and  genius.  Men  come  from  every  clime 
to  see  it,  not  only  with  pleasure,  but  with  wonder.  And  when  we 
look  around  and  see  these  wonderful  material  things,  indicating  the 
material  progress  of  the  world  up  to  the  time  of  our  era,  we  are 
pleased,  also,  to  understand  and  to  know  that  there  are  signs  and 
proofs  of  a  higher  development  and  of  a  nobler  work  than  that  merely 
material  one,  and  that  is,  that  during  this  great  Exposition  there  are 

Note.— This  address  was  delivered  upon  the  opening  of  the  World's  Catholic  Columbian 
Exhibit. 


CDri$t  Blessing  Cittle  CDiiaren. 

St.   Luke  xviii.    15,    16,    17. 

And  they  brought  unto  him  also  infants,  that  he  might  touch  them. 
Which  when  the  disciples  saw,  they  rebuked  them. 

But  Jesus  calling  them  together  said  :  Suffer  children  to  come  to  me  and 
forbid  them  not ;   for  of  such  is  the  kingdom  of  God. 

Amen  I  say  to  you  :  Whosoever  shall  not  receive  the  kingdom  of  God  as  a 
child,  shall  not  enter  into  it. 


Co  Become  as  Cittle  CDildren. 

St.   Matthew  xviii.   2,   3,   4,   5. 

And  Jesus  calling  unto  hira  a  little  child,  set  him  in  the  midst  of  them, 

And  said  :  Amen  I  say  to  you,  unless  you  be  converted,  and  become  as 
little  children,  you  shall  not  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 

Whosoever  therefore  shall  humble  himself  as  this  little  child,  he  is  the 
greater  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 

And  he  that  shall  receive  one  such  little  child  in  my  name,  receiveth  me  ; 


XTl 


THE 


PARENTAL  BLESSING 

IN  A 

CHRISTIAN  HOME  .  . 

BY  A 

MONK  OF  THE  HOLY  ORDER  OF  ST.  BENEDICT 


Endorsement  of  Archbishop  Ullathorne. 

My  Dear  Father  van  Volckxsom : 

I  thank  you  for  your  interestiog  little  essay  and  instruction  on  Parental  blessings 
It  is  a  subject  on  which  I  have  preached  all  my  life,  and  especially  at  visitations.     H 
parents  would  but  consider  the  sanctity  of  their  office,  and  sanctify  themselves  for  it, 
the  houses  of  Catholic  families  would  be  like  chapels. 
I  pray  God  to  bless  you,  and  am,  Rev.  and  dear  Father, 

Your  devoted  servant  in  Christ, 

*  W,  B.  Ullathorne. 

Can  anything  in  a  Christian  family  equal  in  beauty  the  sight  of 
children  who,  from  the  youngest  to  the  oldest,  present  themselves 
each  night  with  reverence  before  their  father  and  mother  to  receive 
their  blessing  before  retiring  to  rest?  This  touching  ceremony  en- 
nobles a  family,  and  consecrates  authority ;  natural  affection  ignites 
a  spark  of  the  love  of  God,  and  the  domestic  hearth  becomes  a  thresh- 
old of  Heaven!  God  grant  that  this  pious  custom  may  be  ever 
maintained  where  it  already  exists,  and  be  adopted  where,  either 
through  neglect,  or  the  chilling  effect  of  a  Protestant  atmosphere,  it 
has  hitherto  not  been  practised ! 

A  blessing  imparted  in  the  name  of  God  is  more  than  a  good 
wish:  it  is  also  a  prayer.  Such  a  solemn  invocation  of  the  authority 
of  God,  made  by  a  parent  for  his  children,  cannot  fail  to  be  effica- 
cious. The  Holy  Ghost  Himself  makes  Ecclesiasticus  say:  The 
father's  blessing  establisheth  the  houses  of  the  children  (ch.  ii.  11). 

The  sign  of  the  Cross  was  still  unknown  in  the  time  of  the  Patri- 
archs. 

The  day  had  not  yet  dawned  when  the  Man-God,  by  dying  the 
ignominious  death  on  the  Cross,  was  thereby  to  change  that  sign 
of  foolishness  into  one  in  which  the  great  St.  Paul,  and  all  Christians 
after  him,  were  to  glory.  The  Patriarchs  of  old,  in  blessing  their 
children,  extended  their  hands  over  their  heads.     With  such  a  rite 


The  Priest  of  God 

IN  THE  CATHOLIC  HOME 

By  Monseigneur  De  S^gur 


There  are  people  who  know  many  things,  and  yet  are  strangers 
to  the  only  necessary  knowledge ;  there  are  others  who  know  little, 
and  are  looked  upon  as  ignorant,  while  in  reality  they  possess  this 
one  true  knowledge. 

The  first  are  men,  too  numerous,  alas!  who  do  not  wish  to  ac- 
quaint themselves  with  that  knowledge  which  leads  to  eternal  salva- 
tion— the  knowledge  of  religion;  they  know  much  of  which  they 
might  safely  be  ignorant,  and  are  ignorant  of  that  which  every  man 
m  this  world  must  know,  or  risk  the  loss  of  his  own  soul. 

The  second  are  true  Christians,  who  place  before  all  things  God 
and  their  salvation ;  these  have  that  true  knowledge  for  which  noth- 
mg  will  suffice,  and  which  is  beyond  all. 

Our  first  duty  is  to  know  God,  and  to  be  well  instructed  in  relig- 
ion. 

Why  do  so  many  fail  in  this? 

I.  Because,  they  say,  people  must  be  educated,  and  have  numerous 
books,  to  be  able  to  study  religion.  It  is  all  very  well  for  the  priest 
who  knows  Latin,  and  for  the  rich,  who  have  received  education, 
but  with  the  poor  it  is  very  different,  and  the  study  of  religion  was 
never  intended  for  them. 

Those  who  speak  thus  do  not  understand  what  religion  is.  God 
gives  it  principally  to  the  poor  and  insignificant,  who  are  His  most 
privileged  children.  In  order  to  know  Him,  to  love  Him,  and  to 
serve  Him,  it  is  not  necessary  to  be  learned,  nor  to  know  Greek  and 
Latin,  it  is  not  even  necessary  to  know  how  to  read.  It  is  sufficient 
to  listen  with  a  willing  mind,  and  in  an  honest  and  sincere  spirit,  to 
the  teaching  of  the  Church  brought  to  us  by  her  pastors. 

The  priests  are  charged  by  the  Bishops,  the  shepherds  of  the  Catholic 
Church  and  the  ministers  of  Jesus  Christ, — to  teach  all  Christians, 
rich  and  poor,  learned  and  ignorant,  what  they  must  believe,  and 
what  they  must  do  to  serve  God  and  to  gain  heaven.  Being  them- 
selves directed  and  led  by  the  Pope — the  Vicar  of  Jesus  Christ  and 


THE   HEAVENL.Y   GUARDIAN. 

The  sleeping  infant  in  its  cradle,  unconscious  of  lurking  danger,  and  the  stealthy  ser- 
pent stealing  on  it,  symbolize  but  too  clearly  the  wiles  of  the  evil  one  to  ensnare  the  sinless 
soul.  But  in  the  moment  of  danger  help  is  often  nearest.  In  the  words  of  the  Psalmist, 
the  angels  of  the  Lord  shall  encamp  around  about  them  and  shall  deliver  them. 


HIS   HEAVENLY   PKOTECTOR. 

"  Take  heed  that  ye  despise  not  one  of  these  little  ones,  for  I  say  to  you,  that  their  angels 
in  heaven  always  see  the  face  of  My  Father  who  is  in  heaven."  (St.  Matthew  xviii.  8.)  The 
child  reaching  for  the  water-lilies,  protected  by  its  heavenly  guardian,  affords  us  the  lesson 
that  in  all  dangers,  trials,  or  temptations  we  have  ever  a  Helper  near. 


ST.  ANNE. 

The  mother  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  was  signally  favored  by  God  in  being  chosen  to  give  to 
a  lost  world  the  Advocate  of  Mercy.  But  it  was  a  greater  happiness  to  be,  under  God,  the 
greatest  instrument  of  her  virtue,  and  to  be  spiritually  her  mother  by  a  holy  education  in 
perfect  innocence  and  sanctity.  Her  pious  care  remains  a  lesson  to  Christian  parents  for  all 
time.  . 


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OUR    liADY    OF    GOO0  COINSEL.. 

This  is  the  picture  of  Our  Lady  of  Good  Couasel  that  miraculously  appeared  to  the 
assembled  multitude,  April  25,  1467,  at  Genzauo,  Italy.  No  artist  has  ever  been  able  to 
adequately  copy  it.  The  devotion  to  the  Virgin  Mother  of  Good  Counsel  has  since  become 
universal.  Pope  Leo  XIII.  became  a  member  of  the  Pious  Union,  and  urged  all  the  faith- 
ful to  become  children  of  Mary  of  Good  Counsel. 


the:   H0L¥    FAMIIi¥. 

Here  we  see  illustrated  the  interior  life  of  the  Holj^  Family.  How  precious  must  have 
been  those  years  to  Mary  and  Joseph  1  We  can  fancy  their  tender  veneration  and  happiness, 
ever  contemplating  the  virtues  of  Jesus,  and  closely  imitating  them.  Should  not  we,  too, 
endeavor  to  follow  them  in  this,  and  profit  by  this  means  of  drawing  nearer  to  God  ? 


XHS:    MOTHER    OF    SORRO^VS. 

Here  we  behold  the  Body  of  the  Saviour,  after  being  taken  down  from  the  Cross.  His 
sufferings  were  at  an  end  at  last,  and  His  Sacred  Body  found  its  resting-place  again  in  the 
arms  that  had  been  the  first  to  clasp  it.  But,  oh  !  the  contrast  for  His  afflicted  Mother  ! 
Yet  her  sorrow  was  temijcred  by  resignation,  for  in  His  death  humanity  attained  eternal  life. 


ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIER. 

The  Apostle  of  the  indies  was  born  in  Spain  in  1506.  He  was  one  of  the  six  companions 
who  joined  St.  Ignatius,  the  founder  of  the  great  Jesuit  order.  The  record  of  his  missionary 
labors  in  the  Orient  is  unprecedented  since  the  age  of  the  Apostles.  The  Saint  is  here  repre- 
.sented  in  his  characteristic  attitude,  with  his  missionary  staff  and  crucifix,  and  heavenly 
light  shining  thereon. 


ST.   AUGUSTINE. 

St.  Augustine  was  born  at  Tagaste,  North  Africa,  in  354.  In  his  youth  he  fell  into  a 
frightful  gulf  of  vice  and  spiritual  miseries  ;  but,  through  the  prayers  and  tears  of  his 
mother,  St.  Monica,  he  finally  was  turned  from  his  evil  ways.  His  ardor  in  the  love  of  God 
was  subsequently  so  marked  that  he  is  usually  represented  with  the  symbol  of  the  flaming 
heart. 


ST.    VINCENT    FERRER. 

St.  Vincent  Ferrer  was  born  in  Valentia,  Spain,  in  1357.  In  his  eighteenth  year  he  joined 
the  Order  of  St.  Dominic.  Kings  and  rulers  besought  him  to  visit  their  dominions  and  preach 
to  their  people.  His  success  in  converting  heretics,  Jevrs,  and  Mohammedans  w^as  marvelous. 
He  died,  worn  out  by  his  zeal  and  labors,  in  his  sixty-second  year,  at  Vannes,  France. 


ST.    MARTIN,    BISHOP    OF    TOURS,    OAUIi. 

St.  Martin  was  born  in  Hungary,  in  316.  He  began  life  as  a  soldier.  One  cold  day, 
while  on  the  march,  he  drew  his  sword,  and  cutting  his  cloalc  in  two,  gave  one-half  to  a 
shivering  beggar.  The  following  night,  in  his  sleep,  our  Blessed  Lord  appeared  to  him  in 
the  half-garment,  and  told  him  it  was  to  Himself  he  had  given  it. 


ST.    DOMINIC. 

St.  Dominic  was  born  in  Spain  in  1170.  He  was  the  founder  of  the  Order  of  Preachers, 
and  also  instituted  the  holy  devotion  of  the  Rosary.  The  dog  with  the  flaming  torch  in  its 
mouth,  and  the  globe  and  cross,  relate  to  a  dream  of  the  Saint's  mother,  pre%ious  to  his  birth, 
typifying  how  her  son  would  one  day  rekindle  the  faith  throughout  the  world. 


niADONNA    OF    CARAVAGGIO. 

This  excellent  picture  is  from  the  brush  of  the  celebrated  Italian  painter  Caravaggio, 
who  lived  in  the  latter  half  of  the  sixteenth  century.  It  depicts  the  Blessed  Virgin  as 
appearing  to  a  peasant  maiden  amid  a  rural  scene.  Besides  the  present  work,  the  "En- 
tombment of  Christ"  and  the  "Holy  Family"  are  among  the  most  admired  productions  of 
this  eminent  artist. 


ST.  ANTHONY   OF    PADUA. 

The  Seraphic  Doctor,  of  the  Order  of  St.  Francis,  and  renowned  miracle-worker,  was 
born  of  noble  parentage  at  Lisbon,  Portugal,  1195.  His  preaching  and  missionary  labors 
were  among  the  marvels  of  the  age.  Before  his  death  the  Blessed  Virgin  appeared  to  him 
and  placed  the  Child  Jesus  in  his  arms.  The  lily,  emblematic  of  his  purity,  and  his  favorite 
book,  the  Holy  Scriptures,  are  associated  with  the  picture  of  the  Saint. 


BENEATH    THE    CKOSS. 

Here  we  see  the  desolation  of  Mai-y,  after  the  Sacred  Botly  had  been  taken  down  from  the 
Cross.  Around  are  the  cruel  instruments  of  His  sufferings — the  nails,  hammer,  and  crown 
of  thorns  ;  also  the  water-bowl  and  cloth  with  which  she  washed  the  great  wounds  on  His 
Sacred  Person.  And  the  swords  of  anguish  pierce  her  heart,  while  the  angels  keep  watch 
over  their  Immaculate  Queen. 


ST.    MARV    MA«»AL,EN. 

Our  Saint's  perseverance  in  virtue  after  her  conversion  at  the  feet  of  her  Redeemer  shone 
all  the  brighter  in  the  shadow  of  her  reprehensible  past.  She  not  only  remained  faithful  to 
Jesus  and  tlie  grace  He  bestowed  on  her,  but  followed  Him  to  the  foot  of  the  Cross,  and  to 
His  tomb,  to  weep  over  and  embalm  His  Sacred  Body.  "Many  sins  were  forgiven  her,  because 
she  loved  much." 


THE    ANNUNCIATIOIV. 

To  the  heavenly  greeting,  "  Hail,  Mary,  full  of  grace,  the  Lord  is  with  thee  :  blessed  art 
thou  among  women,"  Our  Lady,  as  the  divine  decree  was  revealed  to  her,  answered  in  the 
depth  of  her  humility  and  obedience  :  "  Behold,  the  handmaid  of  the  Lord."  Thus  the  great- 
est of  all  mysteries  was  accomplished,  and  the  prophecy  fulfilled,  "For  henceforth  all  geneiv 
ations  shall  call  me  blessed." 


THE    CARJDEN    OF    OIiIV£S. 


After  taking  leave  of  His  disciples,  Jesus  entered  tiie  Garden,  and  there,  in  the  shadows  of 
trees,  began  to  pray.  The  scene  of  ail  the  torments  and  ignominies  He  was  about  to  suffer 
were  present  to  Him,  and,  as  we  read  in  the  gospel  of  St.  Matthew,  "He  began  to  fear  and 
to  be  heavy,  saying,  '  My  Father,  if  it  be  possible,  let  this  chalice  pass  from  Me.  Nevertheless, 
let  Thy  will,  not  Mine,  be  doue.' " 


THE  CRUCIFIXION. 

"WTien  the  disciples  and  apostles  had  fled,  three  women,  with  the  courage  begotten  of 
divine  love,  accompanied  Jesus  even  to  the  toot  of  the  Cross — Mary,  His  Motlier,  Mary 
Magdalen,  and  the  sister  of  His  Mother,  Mary  Cleophas.  These  alone  did  not  abandon  Him 
in  His  sufferings  and  ignominy,  and  did  not  leave  Him  until  He  was  laid  in  the  sepulcher. 


THE    GUARUIAIV    ANGEL,. 

There  is  no  more  beautiful  or  consoling  teaching  of  the  Catholic  Church  than  that  of  an 
angel  being  appointed  by  our  Heavenly  Father  to  watch  over  us  during  life,  inspiring  us  to 
the  practice  of  virtue  and  shielding  us  against  temptation  and  danger.  In  the  present  illus- 
tration, we  see  a  type  of  the  watchfulness  of  the  heavenly  guardian  over  his  innocent  charge. 


TO  HEAVEN. 

In  the  present  illustration  we  behold  a  beautiful  picture  of  the  final  reward  of  a  virtuous 
life — a  Christian  maiden  borne  to  heaven  in  tlie  arms  of  her  Guardian  Angel.  The  garland 
of  flowers  on  her  head  tyjiifies  the  sweetness  of  the  virtues  she  practised  in  life,  and  tlie  cru- 
cifix the  troubles  and  sufferings  which,  in  imitation  of  ber  Saviour,  she  bore  with  patience. 


EXPLANATION  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELiaiON.  15 

simple,  good,  and  worthy  of  God  and  man.  Happy  he  who  knows 
this  holy  religion;  but  far  happier  he  who  practises  it,  and  makes  it 
the  rule  of  his  life ;  he  accomplishes  the  will  of  God ;  he  walks  in  the 
narrow  way ;  he  knows  his  Creator,  serves,  and  loves  Him,  and  after 
the  trials  of  this  life  shall  reap  a  glorious  reward !  .  .  . 

A  BRIEF  EXPLANATION  OF   THE  CHRISTIAN 

RELIGION. 

There  are  many  people,  otherwise  good  and  upright,  who  live 
without  religion,  and  resemble  pagans  in  the  midst  of  Christian  so- 
ciety ;  because  they  have  no  real  knowledge  of  religion.  Having  no 
knowledge  of  it,  or  only  a  very  superficial  knowledge,  they  do  not 
appreciate  it;  having  no  appreciation  of  it,  they  cannot  love  it;  hav- 
ing no  love  for  it,  they  do  not  dream  of  practising  it.  There  is  often 
a  very  false  idea  of  religion  in  the  world,  and  it  is  in  accordance  with 
this  idea  that  it  is  judged,  condemned,  and  criticised.  This  is  a  de- 
plorably thoughtless  age,  and  it  is  with  the  intention  that  you  may 
avoid  this  common  failing  that  I  desire  to  explain  to  you  briefly  this 
holy  and  glorious  Christian  faith. 

Religion  is  that  bond  by  which  God  is  united  to  His  creature,  and 
the  creature  to  his  God.  Religion  is  that  sacred  and  necessary  science 
which  teaches  us  what  God  is,  what  He  has, done  for  us;  what  we 
are,  what  we  must  do  for  God ;  what  life  is,  and  what  awaits  us 
when  life  is  ended. 

There  is  one  true  religion,  because  there  is  one  true  God. 

There  is  only  one,  because  there  is  only  one  true  God ;  and  to  know 
Him,  to  love  Him,  and  to  serve  Him  constitutes  religion;  and  this 
one  true  religion  is  the  Christian  or  Catholic  religion,  in  which  you 
and  I  have  had  the  happiness  to  be  born.  It  is  called  Christian,  be- 
cause the  divine  centre  of  all  its  mysteries  is  Jesus  Christ,  the  Son 
of  God  made  man ;  Catholic,  which  means  Universal,  because  it  em- 
braces all  times,  all  people,  and  all  places. 

Religion,  considered  as  a  whole,  may  be  classed  under  three  great 
divisions:  The  first  contains  the  truths  that  we  must  believe,  be- 
cause God  has  revealed  them  to  us ;  the  second  contains  the  duties 
that  we  must  practise,  shows  forth  virtue  and  vice,  and  is  called 
Christian  morality;  the  third  contains  those  means  of  sanctification 
and  salvation  which  God  presents  to  us,  treats  of  the  sacraments,  of 
prayer,  and  of  Divine  worship. 

The  first  part  of  these  instructions  is  addressed  more  especially  to 


20  ON  THE   EXISTENCE   OP  GOD. 

sion  we  call  a  reasonable  faith.  The  man  who  refused  to  believe  in 
the  mj'steries  of  nature  would  be  a  fool ;  the  man  who  refuses  to  be- 
lieve in  the  mysteries  of  faith  is  not  only  senseless  but  impious  also. 
Let  us  be  neither  one  nor  the  other.  Let  us  believe  with  our  whole 
heart  in  the  teaching  of  God  through  His  works,  even  though  we  do 
not  always  understand  it.  Let  us  rejoice  that  we  can  thus  prove 
that  we  recognize  Him  gladly  as  our  all-wise  and  all-wonderful 
Lord.  He  has  Himself  told  us  that  there  are  three  Persons  in  one 
God;  that  the  second  of  these  Persons,  the  Son  of  God,  was  made 
man  under  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ;  that  the  Church  is  the  mes- 
senger of  Jesus  Christ  to  save  men ;  He  has  told  us  that  there  is  an 
eternal  heaven  and  an  eternal  hell.  Let  us  then  believe  it  as  firmly 
as  though  we  saw  it  with  our  eyes;  and  let  us  remember  the  words 
of  Our  Lord  after  His  resurrection :  "  Blessed  are  they  that  have  not 
seen,  and  have  believed !" 

ON  THE  EXISTENCE  OF  GOD. 

Fen^loN,  the  great  and  good  Archbishop  of  Cambray,  whose  name 
is  honored  even  by  the  irreligious,  was  walking  one  evening  with  a 
child  confided  to  his  fatherly  care. 

The  heavens  glittered  with  a  thousand  stars.  The  horizon  showed 
a  faint  gleam  from  the  rays  of  the  setting  sun.  All  nature  was  at 
rest,  beautiful  and  sublime.  The  child  asking  what  hour  it  was, 
he  drew  out  his  watch."  "What  a  beautiful  watch,  Monseigneur!" 
said  his  young  pupil;  "will  you  allow  me  to  look  at  it?"  The  Arch- 
bishop gave  it  to  him,  and  as  the  child  examined  it  closely,  "It  is  a 
very  singular  thing,  my  dear  Louis,"  said  Fenelon  calmly,  "that 
that  watch  made  itself."  "Made  itself!"  repeated  the  child,  looking 
at  his  master  with  a  smile.  "Yes,  entirely  alone.  A  traveller 
found  it  in  some  desert,  and  it  is  quite  certain  that  it  made  itself." 
"That  is  impossible!"  young  Louis  answered;  "Monseigneur  is 
laughing  at  me?"  "No,  my  child,  I  am  not  laughing  at  you. 
What  is  there  impossible  in  what  I  have  said?"  "But,  Monseig- 
neur, a  watch  could  never  make  itself!"  "And  why?"  "Because 
so  much  precision  is  needed  in  the  arrangement  of  the  thousand  little 
wheels  which  cause  its  motion  and  make  the  hands  keep  time  that 
it  requires  great  intelligence  to  organize  it; 'and  even  then,  very  few 
men  really  succeed  in  spite  of  all  their  pains.  That  such  a  thing 
could  make  itself  is  absolutely  impossible;  I  shall  never  believe  it; 
you  have  been  deceived,  Monseigneur," 


THE   BLESSED  VIRGIN.  3d 

tempt  us  to  assume  the  reverse,  and  to  become  irritated  against  God 
when  we  suffer,  as  if  it  were  God  who  was  doing  us  harm.  The 
Holy  Scripture  shows  us  clearly  the  disastrous  influence  that  the  devil 
has  over  us  in  the  well-known  history  of  Job.  Hordes  of  robbers 
carried  off  in  one  day  all  the  flocks  and  possessions  of  this  holy  man ; 
a  violent  wind  came  from  the  desert  and  overthrew  the  house  in 
which  his  children  lived,  depriving  him  thus  of  all  his  family;  a 
frightful  sickness  struck  him,  covering  him  with  a  grievous  leprosy, 
burning  his  blood  and  withering  his  bones;  lastly,  poverty  over- 
whelmed him  with  its  horrible  privations,  and  he  took  refuge  on  a 
dunghill,  where  his  friends,  and  even  his  wife,  came  to  insult  him, 
and  to  persuade  him  to  curse  God. 

What  was  the  real  secret  cause  of  all  these  evils?  God  teaches 
us  Himself:  it  was  Satan,  it  was  the  devil,  who  obtained  from  the 
Lord  permission  to  try  Job. 

But  God,  who  brings  good  out  of  evil,  makes  use  of  the  wicked- 
ness of  Lucifer  and  the  rebellious  angels  to  sanctify  His  servants. 
Devils,  like  men,  have  then  the  power  to  do  evil ;  but  God  makes 
use  of  the  wickedness  of  Satan  and  the  other  devils  to  make  us  ex- 
piate our  sins  by  many  different  trials,  and  also  to  cause  us  to  prac- 
tise very  excellent  virtues,  which  prepare  for  us  in  heaven  an  incom- 
parable increase  of  happiness.  One  of  the  greatest  misfortunes  of 
the  age  is  that,  in  practice  at  least,  people  believe  no  longer  in  the 
devil.  And  thus  he  sports  with  victims  who  desire  to  believe  no 
longer  in  the  existence  of  their  tormentor. 

THE  BLESSED  VIRGIN, 

The  devil  has  no  adversary  more  formidable  than  the  Blessed 
Virgin  Mary,  Mother  of  the  Saviour,  and  Queen  of  the  Church. 

An  error  sufficiently  common  in  these 'days  is  to  regard  devotion 
to  the  Blessed  Virgin  as  among  those  religious  practices  which  are 
undoubtedly  good,  but  not  essential  to  Christianity.  This  indiffer- 
ence toward  the  Mother  of  God  proceeds  from  an  indifference  very 
common  and  still  more  deplorable — an  indifference,  alas!  to  the 
Son  of  God  Himself,  even  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ;  and  this  does  not 
usually  arise  from  wickedness  or  evil  intentions,  but  simply  from 
ignorance. 

The  Christian  religion  is  the  knowledge,  love,  and  service  of  God, 
taught  to  men  by  Jesus  Christ,  God  made  man ;  and  Jesus  Christ  is 
„Tian  only  through  the  agency  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary,  who  is 


M:  THE  ANNUNCIATION  AND  THE  INCARNATION. 

It  is  not  by  such  means  as  these  that  we  can  show  devotion  to  the 
Mother  of  God ;  but  let  us  try  with  our  whole  heart  to  prove  it,  in 
every  way  we  can.  We  will  always  keep  her  image  in  our  rooms^ 
and  let  it  be  more  precious  to  us  than  anything  except  the  crucifix. 
We  will  always  wear  a  medal  representing  Mary,  conceived  without 
sin;  and  we  will  never  allow  a  day  to  pass  without  entreating  the 
help  of  our  powerful  Protectress  and  most  merciful  Mother.  Let  us 
love  the  Blessed  Virgin  as  Jesus  loved  her  first.  Yet  this  will  be  no 
easy  task,  for  we  can  never  love  her,  can  never  honor  her,  so  much 
as  He  did.  Let  us  imitate  the  sanctity  of  our  dear  Mother,  her  pur- 
ity, her  humility,  her  sweetness,  her  life  of  laborious  poverty,  her 
faithfulness  in  little  things;  but  more  than  all,  let  us  imitate  her  in- 
tense and  unutterable  love  for  Jesus,  and  let  us  so  live  that  when  our 
race  is  run  she  shall  know  us  for  her  children,  and  conduct  us  to  an 
eternal  rest  in  the  glorious  paradise  of  the  redeemed. 


THE  ANNUNCIATION  AND  THE  INCARNATION. 

On  a  certain  25th  of  March,  4,004  years  after  the  creation  of  Adam 
and  Eve,  2,967  years  after  the  Deluge,  1,610  years  since  Moses  de- 
livered the  people  of  God,  1,032  years  after  the  consecration  of  the 
royalty  of  David,  752  years  after  the  foundation  of  Eome,  and  on  the 
anniversary  of  the  miraculous  passage  of  the  Red  Sea,  the  Lord  God, 
Almighty  and  All-merciful,  sent  the  Archangel  Gabriel  to  a  virgin 
of  the  name  of  Mary,  living  in  the  little  town  of  Nazareth  in  Galilee, 
to  announce  to  her  the  Incarnation  of  the  Son  of  God. 

Mary  was  then  about  fourteen,  and  was  betrothed  to  Joseph,  her 
near  relation,  descended  like  herself  from  the  royal  race  of  David, 
and  of  the  tribe  of  Juda.  Immaculate  and  purer  than  the  angels, 
sweet  and  full  of  humility,  the  Blessed  Virgin  awaited,  with  the 
whole  of  Israel,  the  coming  of  the  Divine  Redeemer  announced  from 
the  foundation  of  the  world.  She  knew  not  that  she  was  destined  to 
be  the  Mother  of  the  King  of  Heaven ;  and  in  her  loving  humility 
she  prayed  that  she  might  even  be  the  handmaid  of  her  who  should 
be  blessed  among  women. 

According  to  ancient  tradition  it  was  at  noonday,  on  the  25th  of 
March,  that  the  Archangel  Gabriel,  clothed  in  human  form  and  ra- 
diant with  the  light  of  heaven,  appeared  to  Mary,  who  was  praying 
at  the  time  in  a  grotto  hewn  from  the  solid  rock  of  the  hill  at  the 
foot  of  which  her  house  was  built,  as  were  all  the  houses  of  Naza- 


BETHLEHEM   AND   THE   CHILD  JESUS.  3l 


BETHLEHEM  AND   THE  CHILD  JESUS. 

From  the  hour  of  the  Annunciation,  Mary  bore  within  her  sacred 
womb  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  Incarnate  Son  of  God.  A  living 
ciborium,  Mary  contained  and  bore  among  men  the  body  and  the 
blood,  the  soul  and  the  divinity,  of  the  Saviour.  She  enclosed  the 
whole  world,  the  God  of  heaven.  He  whom  seraphims  and  angels 
continually  adore! 

Nine  months  after,  on  the  24th  of  December,  Joseph  and  Mary 
reached  the  little  town  of  Bethlehem,  the  city  of  David,  there  to  be 
enrolled,  according  to  the  decree  of  Caesar  Augustus,  who  then  com- 
manded the  whole  world. 

The  divine  prophecies  were  thus  unconsciously  fulfilled  by  Augus- 
tus, and  it  was  an  unquestioned  fact  among  the  Jews  that  the  Christ, 
the  Messias,  should  be  born  at  Bethlehem  and  descended  from  King 
David.  On  arriving  at  Bethlehem,  Joseph  and  Mary  found  that 
there  was  no  room  for  them  in  the  inn;  the  night  was  approaching, 
and  they  found  themselves  obliged  to  go  out  of  the  town  and  to  seek 
shelter  in  a  grotto,  which  for  many  centuries  had  been  a  place  of 
refuge  for  shepherds  and  their  flocks.  According  to  ancient  relig- 
ious traditions,  David,  Abraham,  and  Noe  had  frequently  sought 
an  asylum  in  this  grotto,  and  at  the  very  beginning  of  the  human 
race  Seth,  the  son  of  Adam,  who  had  filled  the  place  of  Abel,  had 
taken  refuge  there  to  pray. 

Toward  midnight  the  Blessed  Virgin  was  warned  by  God  that  the 
moment  was  come  in  which  the  Word  Incarnate  should  appear  to  the 
eyes  of  His  creatures.  Then  she  clothed  herself  in  the  white  raiment 
she  had  brought  for  that  hour,  and  prepared,  with  St.  Joseph,  a  lit- 
tle hay  and  straw  in  a  manger,  and  the  swaddling-clothes  upon  the 
straw.  There  Mary,  kneeling,  lifted  up  her  arms  to  heaven,  and  be 
came  absorbed  in  a  blissful  ecstasy — all  holy  and  divine  she  knelt,  the 
Virgin  Mother  of  God. 

A  heavenly  light  enveloped  her,  and  suddenly  in  the  midst  of  this 
light  there  appeared  to  her  enraptured  vision  the  holy  infant  Jesus, 
all  radiant  with  glory;  He  looked  at  her  with  love,  and  stretched  out 
His  little  arras.  Then  Mary,  full  of  joy,  adored  Him  as  her  God, 
and,  taking  Him  in  her  arms,  she  held  Him  to  her  heart,  and  covered 
Him  with  tears  and  kisses.  Then  she  wrapped  Him  in  swaddling- 
clothes  and  laid  Him  in  the  manger ;  Joseph  on  one  side  and  Mary 
on  the  other,  kneeling  and  prostrate  before  the  Lord,  were  as  the  two 


4S  JESUS  CHRIST. 

these  luminous  shadows,  in  the  arms  of  Jesus  and  Mary,  tenderly 
watched  and  cared  for  by  Him  who  is  "the  resurrection  and  the  life." 
Happy  he  who  falls  asleep  like  Joseph  in  the  love  of  Jesus  and  Mary, 
after  a  pure  and  simple  life  passed  in  prayer  and  work,  in  penance 
and  obscurity.  Saint  Joseph,  we  can  well  understand,  is  the  patron 
of  a  happy  death. 

Let  us  think  of  Nazareth  when  work  grows  hard  and  wearisome, 
when  the  yoke  of  a  simple,  unassuming  life  becomes  galling  to  our 
pride,  when  we  are  carried  away  by  foolish  gusts  of  worldly  vanity, 
when  self-love  urges  us  to  seek  distinction,  and  especially  when  the 
spirit  of  independence  whispers  in  our  ears  the  seductive  theories  of 
false  liberty.  .  .  .  0  Jesus!  save  us  from  these  insidious  tempta- 
tions; and  help  us  to  comprehend  still  more  clearly  the  sanctifying 
mystery  of  Thy  hidden  life  at  Nazareth  I 

JESUS  CHRIST. 

We  have  seen  what  faith  truly  is;  we  have  seen  how  entirely 
worthy  of  God  and  of  ourselves  is  that  idea  which  Christianity  gives 
us  of  our  Creator,  the  almighty  and  eternal  Lord,  infinite  and  su- 
preme; one  God  in  three  persons — Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost. 

But  this  infinite  God  would  have  been  utterly  unknown  to  us  if 
He  had  not,  in  His  love,  revealed  Himself.  This  is  what  He  has 
been  doing  ever  since  the  commencement  of  the  world,  by  the  minis- 
try of  His  angels,  by  the  inspiration  of  patriarchs  and  prophets,  and 
more  than  all  by  the  incarnation  of  His  own  beloved  Son,  Our  Lord 
and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  born  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary  about 
forty  centuries  after  the  fall  of  Adam.  The  coming  of  Our  Lord  is 
the  central  point  to  which  all  ages  tend,  and  round  that  one  event 
all  the  past  and  future  hopes  and.  possibilities  of  the  human  race 
eternally  revolve. 

To  say  all  that  Jesus  Christ  is  would  be  beyond  the  possibilities 
of  human  speech. 

He  is  the  invisible  God  become  visible,  and  appearing  in  the  midst 
of  His  creatures;  He  is  the  infinite,  eternal,  and  almighty  Creator, 
clothed  with  a  humanity  like  unto  ours,  and  become,  for  love  of  us, 
mortal,  passible,  subject  to  time  and  to  all  human  miseries  save  sin. 
Jesus  is  the  only  God,  Creator  of  all  things,  Creator  of  angels  and 
of  men,  our  first  principle  and  our  last  end,  whose  knowledge  is  true 
light,  whose  service  is  true  joy,  whose  love  is  the  only  true  happi 
ness. 


44  THE   MIRACI-ES   OF  JESUS   CHRIST. 

will  come  hereafter  to  judge  us  according  to  our  works,  and  to  cast  out 
of  His  presence,  into  hell,  the  devil  and  all  the  wicked,  and  to  gather 
together  in  a  glorious  eternity  His  own  most  faithful  servants. 

We  shall  soon  see  how  we  are  all  united  by  means  of  His  Church, 
which  is  the  depository  of  all  the  treasures  of  His  love. 

THE  MIRACLES  OF  JESUS  CHRIST. 

A  MIRACLE  is  a  visible  fact,  entirely  above  and  beyond  the  natural 
order  of  things;  it  is  the  unusual  exercise  of  God's  almighty  power. 

To  deny  the  possibility  of  miracles  is  also  to  deny  the  power  of  God, 
or  rather  His  existence. 

Miracles  being  the  seal  of  divinity,  if  Jesus  Christ  were  God,  He 
was,  in  a  manner,  bound  to  work  miracles,  undoubted  miracles,  mir- 
acles by  His  own  power,  bearing  the  impress  of  His  Godhead ;  and 
we  have,  like  the  Jews  of  Capharnaum,  a  right  to  ask  of  Him : 
What  sign  dost  Thou  show  unto  us  that  we  may  believe? 

Jesus  Christ  does  in  no  way  shrink  from  this  trial.  His  acts  speak 
even  more  clearly  than  His  words. 

The  second  time  that  He  went  up  to  Jerusalem  for  the  feast  of  the 
tabernacles,  Jesus,  followed  by  His  disciples,  met  a  poor  beggar, 
blind  from  his  birth.  And  His  disciples  asked  Him,  "Rabbi,  who 
hath  sinned — this  man  or  his  parents,  that  he  should  be  born  blind?" 
Jesus  answered,  "Neither  hath  this  man  sinned  nor  his  parents;  but 
that  the  works  of  God  should  be  made  manifest  in  him.  As  long  as 
I  am  in  the  world,  I  am  the  Light  of  the  world."  When  He  had 
said  these  things,  He  spat  on  the  ground,  and  made  clay  of  the  spit- 
tle, and  spread  the  clay  upon  his  eyes,  and  said  to  him,  "  Go,  wash 
in  the  pool  of  Siloe. "  The  blind  man  went  therefore,  and  washed, 
and  came  seeing. 

But  his  neighbors  would  not  recognize  him.  "This  is  not  he," 
they  said,  "but  a  man  who  is  hke  him."  But  he  said,  "I  am  he." 
They  said  therefore  to  him,  "How  were  thy  eyes  opened?"  He  an- 
swered, "  That  man  that  is  called  Jesus  made  clay,  and  anointed  my 
eyes,  and  said  to  me,  'Go  to  the  pool  of  Siloe,  and  wash.'  And  I 
went,  I  washed,  and  I  see."  They  bring  him  to  the  Pharisees,  who 
were  met  together  in  the  Temple,  for  it  was  the  Sabbath.  The 
Pharisees  were  confounded.  They  questioned  the  blind  man,  who 
told  them  simply  what  had  passed.  "What  sayest  thou,"  they 
asked,  "of  Him  that  hath  opened  thy  eyes?"  And  he  said,  "He  is  a 
prophet." 


50  CHRIST  CRUCIFIED. 

Jesus  Christ  said  that  He  was  God ;  and  to  this,  the  chief  proof  of 
His  divinity,  no  answer  can  be  made.  He  confirmed  His  words  by 
His  miracles;  and  this  second  proof  is  as  clear  and  as  unquestionable 
as  the  first. 

There  is  no  need  of  lengthy  arguments  to  explain  how  powerful  is 
the  proof  afforded  by  such  miracles.  Those  worked  by  Our  Lord  are 
of  a  special  nature  peculiar  to  Himself  alone ;  He  worked  them  by 
His  own  power,  and  without  invoking  any  power  beyond  His  own. 
■ — "I  will;  be  thou  healed." — "Young  man,  I  say  to  thee,  arise." — ■ 
"Lazarus,  come  forth."  Saints  and  prophets  have  performed  mira- 
cles, and  great  miracles,  but  it  has  been  always  in  the  name  of  the 
Lord  their  God.  "In  the  name  of  Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,"  said  St. 
Peter  to  the  lame  man,  whom  he  cured  when  entering  the  temple, 
"rise  up  and  walk." 

The  Apostles,  the  martyrs,  and  the  saints,  from  the  very  origin  of 
Christianity,  even  down  to  the  present  time,  have  worked  and  have 
only  been  able  to  work  miracles  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  by 
a  power  beyond  their  own. 

It  is  impossible  to  deny  the  divine  miracles  of  Jesus ;  to  attempt  to 
do  so  would  show  a  will  more  hardened  than  that  of  Caiphasand  the 
Pharisees — those  clear-sighted  and  inveterate  enemies  of  the  Sa- 
viour. Let  us  hear  their  testimony,  "This  man  works  miracles,  and 
we  cannot  deny  it." 

If  we  will  only  hold  fast,  in  all  integrity  of  purpose,  to  that  love 
of  truth  of  which  passion  had  deprived  the  Jews,  we  shall  draw  from 
the  miracles  of  Jesus  the  only  logical  and  evident  conclusion,  and 
we  shall  cast  ourselves  in  spirit  at  His  sacred  feet,  repeating  with  all 
the  faculties  of  our  nature  the  words  of  him  who  was  born  blind : 
Credo  Domine — "Lord,  I  believe." 


CHRIST  CRUCIFIED. 

After  the  three  years  of  His  public  life,  the  Son  of  God  made  man 
desired  to  consummate  by  death — by  the  death  of  the  cross — the  mer- 
ciful work  of  our  redemption. 

By  sin  we  had  deserved  death;  Jesus  took  this  death  upon  Him- 
self, and  in  exchange  restored  eternal  life  to  all  sinners  who  unite 
themselves  to  Him  by  ardent  faith  and  true  love,  by  unquestioning 
obedience  and  sincere  repentance. 

Innocent,  and  more  than  innocent,  Jesus  made  satisfaction  for  the 


THE  RESURRECTION  OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  63 

angels,  adore  Our  Lord  and  Saviour, "Jesus  Christ,  infinitely  holy  and 
infinitely  beloved  !  May  His  cross  recall  to  us  incessantly  His  love, 
and  may  His  sacred  Blood,  so  freely  shed,  penetrate  to  the  inmost 
recesses  of  our  hearts,  through  a  frequent  reception  of  the  Sacrament 
of  the  Holy  Eucharist,  in  which  He  dwells,  perfect  God  and  perfect 
Man,  thus  enabling  us  to  participate  in  all  the  merits  of  His  glorious 
redemption. 

THE  RESURRECTION  OF  JESUS  CHRIST* 

Fourteen  times  during  the  course  of  His  preaching,  Jesus  Christ 
liad  announced  that  after  His  suffering  and  His  death  He  would  rise 
a.";.iin  on  the  third  day,  and  He  had  clearly  pointed  out  His  resurrec- 
tion as  the  sure  sign  by  which  not  only  His  Apostles  but  the  faithless 
Jews  should  hereafter  acknowledge  that  He  was  truly  the  Son  of 
God.  "An  evil  and  adulterous  generation  seeketh  a  sign,  and  a 
sign  shall  not  be  given  it,  but  the  sign  of  Jonas  the  prophet.  For 
as  Jonas  was  in  the  whale's  belly  three  days  and  three  nights,  so 
shall  the  Son  of  man  be  three  days  and  three  nights  in  the  heart  of 
the  earth."  "The  Son  of  man  must  be  delivered  into  the  hands  of 
sinful  men.  and  be  crucified,  and  the  third  day  rise  again." 

This  prophecy  was  so  well  known  to  the  enemies  of  Jesus,  and  they 
so  thoroughly  understood  its  great  importance,  that  their  first  care, 
after  the  descent  from  the  cross,  was  to  watch  the  Holy  Sepulchre, 
to  send  soldiers  to  guard  it,  and  to  aflBx  the  public  seal  on  the  open- 
ing to  the  grave.  This  vindictive  foresight,  with  the  incredulity  of 
the  Apostles,  and  especially  of  Thomas,  have  all  turned  to  our  profit; 
but  still,  the  resurrection  of  Our  Lord  being  for  us  the  miracle  of 
miracles,  the  proof  beyond  all  proofs,  it  is  of  extreme  importance  that 
we  should  thoroughly  know  the  details,  and  should  rest  our  belief 
upon  the  evidence. 

Divine  Providence  has,  as  it  were,  provided  for  this  by  surrounding 
the  resurrection  of  the  Saviour  with  circumstances  so  clear  and  con- 
cise as  to  strike  conviction  to  the  heart  of  any  reasonable  man. 

After  the  death  of  Jesus,  St.  Peter  and  St.  John  had  rejoined  Mary, 
and  had  retired  with  her  to  weep  and  pray. 

St.  John  himself  acknowledges  in  his  Gospel  that  they  had  all  for 
gotten  the  prophetic  words  of  the  Saviour  touching  the  resurrection. 
The  Blessed  Virgin  alone,  being  initiated  into  the  mysteries  of  Christ, 
knew  what  would  happen,  but  hid  this  knowledge  in  her  heart. 

As  to  the  Apostles,  they  had  all  dispersed  on  the  Friday  evening, 


68  THE  ASCENSION  OF  OUR  LORD. 

ing,  the  truth  affirmed  by  the  Gospel,  by  the  holy  Apostles  and  mar 
tyrs;  let  us  believe,  love,  and  adore  our  risen  Lord.  "He  who  be- 
lieves shall  be  saved;  he  who  believes  not  shall  be  condemned." 

THE  ASCENSION  OF  OUR  LORD, 

Forty  days  after  Easter  Our  Lord  appeared  for  the  last  time  to 
His  disciples,  near  to  Jerusalem.  The  eleven  Apostles,  and  more  than 
five  hundred  disciples,  were  present.  It  was  noonday  when  He  ap- 
peared to  them,  and  He  led  them  to  the  Mount  of  Olives,  and  to  a 
place  of  which  the  exact  spot  is  still  preserved  in  the  tradition  of  the 
holy  places. 

"Behold,"  He  said,  "I  send  the  promise  of  My  Father  upon  you, 
and  you  shall  be  endued  with  power  from  on  high."  Then  lifting  up 
His  hands  to  bless  them.  He  added,  "  All  power  is  given  to  Me  in 
heaven  and  in  earth.  Go  ye  into  the  whole  world,  and  preach  the 
gospel  to  every  creature ;  and  you  shall  be  witnesses  unto  Me  in  Je- 
rusalem, and  in  all  Judea,  and  in  Samaria,  and  even  to  the  utter- 
most part  of  the  earth.  Going  therefore,  teach  ye  all  nations,  bap  ■ 
tizing  them  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the 
Holy  Ghost.  And  behold,  I  am  with  you  all  days,  even  to  the  con- 
summation of  the  world." 

And  even  as  our  divine  Lord  was  speaking  to  His  Apostles  this  last 
solemn  farewell.  He  rose  in  unspeakable  majesty  above  all  the  pros- 
trate crowd,  and  soon  a  bright  cloud  received  Him  out  of  their  sight. 

Since  then,  the  glorified  body  of  Jesus  Christ  has  been  in  a  super- 
natural and  ineffable  condition,  of  which  nothing  on  earth  could  give 
us  any  idea.  Although  having  a  body  truly  human.  He  is  invisible 
to  our  earthly  eyes;  our  hands  cannot  touch  Him,  our  senses  cannot 
attain  to  Him.  He  deigns,  in  His  great  love,  still  to  dwell  among  us 
by  means  of  the  Most  Holy  Sacrament  of  the  altar,  where  He  is  truly 
present,  though  veiled  under  the  appearances  of  bread  and  wine. 

Jesus  waits  for  us  in  heaven ;  and  those  who  serve  Him  faithfully, 
who  hate  sin,  obey  the  Church,  and  frequent  the  Sacraments,  have 
a  sure  and  certain  hope  of  meeting  their  Lord  in  heaven  when  their 
earthly  pilgrimage  is  done.  His  glorious  Ascension  is  the  pledge  of 
our  own  entrance  into  paradise.  It  is  the  last  and  most  wonderful 
of  those  miracles  by  which  He  deigned  to  confirm  our  faith  and  to 
render  us  absolutely  certain  of  the  divine  nature  of  the  Christian  re- 
ligion. This  Ascension,  at  the  full  noonday,  in  the  clear  daylight, 
in  the  presence  of  more  than  five  hundred  witnesses,  is  a  fact  that  it 


THE  ASSUMPTION  OF  THE  BLESSED  VIRGIN.  65 

Let  US  never  read  those  holy  pages  but  with  faith,  reverence,  and 
love;  and  with  an  earnest  desire  to  become  hoher  each  day  by  con- 
forming our  lives  more  nearly  to  the  life  of  Jesus  Christ,  our  divine 
Master,  and  our  great  Example. 

THE  ASSUMPTION  OF  THE  BLESSED  VIRGIN. 

The  word  Assumption  means  lifting  up  to  heaven,  carrying  away 
from  earth  to  heaven.  The  Assumption  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  is  the 
mystery  of  the  happy  death  of  the  Mother  of  God,  of  her  miraculous 
resurrection,  and  her  assumption  into  heaven,  where,  being  invested 
with  the  glory  of  her  divine  Son,  she  reigns  forever,  Queen  of  heaven 
and  earth. 

A  poor  and  lowly  virgin,  Mary  was  born  at  Nazareth,  four  thou- 
sand years  after  the  fall  of  Eve,  and  about  fifteen  years  before  the 
Incarnation  of  the  Saviour.  She  lived  at  first  in  the  temple  at  Je- 
rusalem with  holy  women  consecrated  to  God.  Her  life  was  passed 
in  prayer,  in  work,  and  in  innocence.  Espoused  to  St.  Joseph,  her 
relation,  and  the  descendant,  like  herself,  of  David,  Abraham,  and 
Noah,  she  and  her  betrothed  husband  both  lived  in  perfect  conti* 
nence ;  both  had  taken  a  vow  of  perpetual  virginity. 

We  have  already  relate^  how  the  Angel  Gabriel  appeared  to  her  at 
Nazareth.  In  a  poor  stable  at  Bethlehem,  she  brought  into  the 
world  Jesus,  her  Son  and  her  God. 

She  passed  thirty  years  with  Jesus  and  St.  Joseph  in  prayer  and 
poverty  and  daily  work.  The  model  of  interior  souls,  Mary  made 
no  outward  show;  all  her  life,  all  her  glory  was  hidden  in  Jesus 
Christ.  She  passed  her  days  and  nights  in  closest  communion 
with  Him ;  she  listened  to  Him,  she  talked  with  Him,  but,  more  than 
all,  she  loved  Him.  She  followed  Him  during  His  three  years  of 
teaching,  and  she  was  with  Him  through  all  the  phases  of  His  dolor- 
ous Passion,  even  unto  Calvarj',  where  she  received  His  last  sigh. 

Before  His  death,  Jesus  bequeathed  her  to  St.  John,  His  much- 
loved  Apostle,  as  His  dearest  possession  and  most  sacred  heritage. 
"Behold  thy  mother,"  He  said  to  St.  John,  and  turned  His  dying 
eyes  to  Mary. 

All  true  Christians,  being  themselves  the  well- beloved  disciples  of 
Jesus,  were  represented  on  Mount  Calvary  by  St.  John ;  and  at  that 
supreme  moment  they  received  the  Blessed  Virgin  for  their  mother; 
and  Mary  loves  them  all  as  her  adopted  children,  by  reason  of  the 
love  she  bears  to  Jesus,  who  dwells  within  them. 
5 


THE  CHURCH.  67 

Virgin  who  had  become  their  Queen  by  tne  glory  of  her  divme 
maternity.  For  even  as  the  mother  of  a  king  is  infinitely  above  his 
servants,  so  Mary,  the  Mother  of  God,  is  infinitely  above  all  saints 
and  angels  and  archangels — above  all  the  cherubim  and  seraphim 
of  heaven.  Immediately  beneath  Jesus  Christ,  she  reigns  with 
Him,  and  by  Him,  over  all  His  creatures. 

The  Assumption  is  the  crowing  glory  of  the  Mother  of  God. 
Christians  celebrate  it  by  a  solemn  festival.  It  is  a  day  of  joy,  for 
it  is  the  day  on  which  the  Queen  of  Christians  died,  and  death  to  the 
Christian  is  not  the  gloomy  end  of  all  things,  but  the  happy  deliver- 
ance from  the  sorrows  of  life,  the  joyful  entrance  into  the  unutter- 
able gladness,  which  on  earth  they  could  only  hope  for  and  desire. 
It  is  the  day  on  which  Mary  triumphed  over  death ;  it  is  the  day  on 
which  our  Mother  was  eternally  crowned.  Happy  shall  we  be  if  we 
are  the  true  children  of  this  most  holy  Mother;  happy,  if  by  a  faith- 
ful following  of  Jesus  Christ,  we  deserve  that  she  should  regard  us 
as  her  children. 

Let  us  ask  her  to  bless  us,  to  obtain  for  us  a  happy  death,  and  to 
conduct  us,  after  the  sorrows  of  life,  to  that  blessed  country  where 
she  reigns  with  Jesus  Christ  throughout  eternal  ages. 

THE    CHURCH, 

God  is  known  to  us  through  Jesus  Christ,  and  Jesus  Christ  is 
known  to  us  through  the  Church.  The  Church  leads  us  to  the  Son 
of  God  our  Saviour,  and  He  leads  us  to  God  His  Father.  Without 
Jesus  Christ  there  is  no  true  God ;  without  the  Church  there  is  no 
true  Christianity. 

By  the  term  Church  three  distinct  things  may  be  understood, 
although  these  three  are  all  expressed  in  the  one  word. 

I.  The  great  society  of  all  reasonable  creatures  who  know  the  one 
true  God,  and  are  in  close  relations  with  Him  by  means  of  religion, 
whether  in  heaven,  on  earth,  or  in  purgatory.  In  this  sense  we  are 
all  members  of  the  Church. 

II.  The  government  established  by  Jesus  Christ  to  preserve  His 
children  in  true  faith,  unity,  peace,  and  holiness ;  in  this  sense  the 
Church  signifies  the  Pope  and  the  bishops,  assisted  by  such  coadjutors 
as  they  themselves  provide. 

III.  The  material  Temple,  where  the  members  of  the  Church 
meet  upon  certain  days,  under  the  direction  of  their  legitimate 
pastors,  to  honor  God  by  public  worship,  and  to  receive  religious  in* 


THE   CATHOLIC  CHURCH.  69 

administering  to  them  the  sacraments,  and  celebrating  in  their  midst 
the  holy  sacrifice  of  the  Mass,  and  other  offices  of  public  worship. 

Such  is  the  Church — the  great  and  holy  family  of  God,  the  ark  of 
salvation,  the  peaceful  and  invincible  army  which  wages  warfare 
with  the  powers  of  hell,  and  marches  on  through  all  the  centuries-^ 
ever  on,  to  the  conquest  of  paradise. 

THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH. 

It  is  most  needful  to  insist  upon  one  great  and  fundamental  truth, 
viz.,  the  divinity  of  the  Catholic  Church.  This  is  the  name  given  to 
the  great  society  of  Christians,  or  disciples  of  Jesus  Christ. 

We  have  already  seen  that  the  only  true  religion  is  the  Christian 
religion,  so  called  because  Jesus  Christ  is  its  Head,  its  Master,  and 
its  God. 

During  His  life  on  earth,  Jesus  Christ  chose  twelve  disciples,  whom 
He  called  Apostles,  which  means  simply  envoys,  and  He  appointed 
one  among  them,  the  Apostle  St.  Peter,  to  be  their  head,  when  He 
should  Himself  have  left  the  earth.  Hence  it  was  to  the  Apostles, 
and  especially  to  St.  Peter,  their  supreme  head,  that  He  entrusted 
the  care  of  religion.  He  invested  them  with  His  spiritual  authority, 
commanded  them  to  preach  the  Christian  faith  throughout  the  world, 
and  to  bring  all  men  under  His  dominion;  and  He  promised  to  them, 
and  to  their  successors.  His  perpetual  assistance  even  unto  the  end 
of  the  world. 

In  fulfilment  of  this  promise,  ten  days  after  His  ascension  into 
heaven,  He  sent  to  them  His  Holy  Spirit  to  remain  with  them  and 
their  successors  throughout  all  ages ;  the  Spirit  of  Truth,  who  pre- 
serves the  pastors  of  the  Christian  people  from  all  error  in  the  teach- 
ing of  the  Faith;  the  Spirit  of  Holiness,  who  gives  to  them  the 
means  of  becoming  holy  themselves,  and  of  making  all  men  holy,  if 
obedient  to  their  voice ;  the  Spirit  of  wisdom  and  power,  who  pre- 
serves the  work  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  makes  His  Church  triumphant 
over  all  the  powers  of  earth  and  hell. 

St.  Peter  and  the  Apostles,  obedient  to  the  command  of  Jesus 
Christ,  dispersed  over  all  the  world,  preaching  the  true  religion 
All  died  martyrs ;   they  were  the  first  Catholic  bishops,  and  in  every 
country  where  they  preached  they  consecrated  bishops  and  priests, 
of  whom  Catholic  bishops  and  priests  are  alone  the  actual  successors 

St.  Peter  was  the  first  Bishop  of  Rome,  at  which  city  he  was  cru- 
cified, during  the  first  persecution  of  the  Christians,  in  the  reign  of 


ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  CHURCH.  71 

God  for  his  Father  who  is  not  willing  to  have  the  Church  for  his 
mother" — the  words  of  St.  Cyprian,  bishop  and  martyr,  sixteen 
hundred  years  ago. 

Let  us  then  reverence  the  priests  of  the  Church  as  the  ambassadors 
of  God ;  let  us  be  ever  ready  to  condemn  the  attacks  directed  against 
them  by  irreligious  men ;  let  us  listen  to  their  voice,  and  be  obedient 
to  their  teaching;  such  was  the  command  of  Jesus  Christ:  "Go," 
said  their  divine  Master  to  them,  "  Go  ye  into  the  whole  world,  and 
preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature. 

ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  CHURCH, 

There  is  on  earth  a  great  army  which  attacks  no  one,  which 
wounds  no  one,  which  kills  no  one,  and  yet  it  fights  incessantly,  and 
has  marched  unshaken  during  nineteen  centuries  against  the  same 
enemy,  through  the  same  perils,  on  to  the  same  conquest.  It  is 
everywere,  yet  few  people  recognize  its  presence.  It  is  a  thousand 
times  more  numerous  than  the  armies  of  the  most  powerful  em- 
perors, and  it  numbers  more  heroes  in  its  ranks.  It  fights  against 
far  more  fearful  foes,  and  the  cross  of  honor  with  which  it  rewards 
its  bravest  men  is  of  immeasurably  greater  value  than  the  decoration 
of  the  battlefield. 

This  army  is  the  Catholic  Church.  Its  great  Leader  and  Com- 
mander, already  crowned  with  glory,  is  Jesus  Christ,  who  reigns  in 
heaven.  But  its  divine  Leader  has  entrusted  the  entire  command  of 
His  array  upon  earth  to  one  man,  who  commands  all  the  rest,  and 
leads  them  on  to  victory.  This  is  the  Pope,  successor  of  St.  Peter, 
to  whom  the  Son  of  God  declared,  that  upon  him  the  Church  should 
be  established,  and  the  gates  of  hell  should  never  prevail  against  it. 
God  Himself  has  organized  this  great  army,  of  which  all  Catholics 
form  a  part.  And  to  those  who  are  faithful  to  their  standard  the 
reward  is  nothing  less  than  the  happiness  and  the  eternal  rest  of 
heaven.  Nothing  is  more  strange  than  the  ignorance  of  many  with 
regard  to  a  subject  which  so  closely  concerns  them.  A  Christian 
may  not  be  ignorant  of  such  things,  any  more  than  a  soldier  may  be 
ignorant  of  the  different  grades  of  general,  colonel,  captain,  ser- 
geant, and  soldier,  in  the  hierarchy  of  the  army. 

Our  leader,  to  whom  we  all,  without  exception,  owe  obedience,  is 
the  Pope.  This  cannot  be  too  often  repeated,  or  too  strongly  en- 
forced. His  spiritual  power  extends  over  the  whole  world.  No  one 
is  excepted  from  the  great  rule  of  obedience ;   and  cardinals,  bishops. 


THE  POPE.  73 

relates  to  the  general  government  of  the  Church;  and  thus  they 
form  around  him  an  august  senate  always  ready  to  assist  with  advice 
and  most  zealous  support. 

The  Pope  is  always  dressed  in  white ;  cardinals  in  red,  which  is 
called  the  Eoman  purple ;  archbishops,  bishops,  and  other  prelates  in 
violet.     All  other  ecclesiastics  wear  black. 

These  different  degrees  of  the  sacred  authority  of  the  Church 
should  be  ever  regarded  with  the  greatest  respect.  Whatever  hap- 
pens, and  in  spite  of  the  plausible  tone  assumed  by  infidel  writers, 
and  in  mischievous  journals,  all  reasonable  men  should  reader  a  glad 
and  ready  obedience  to  the  voice  of  the  Pope,  the  bishop,  and  the 
priest;  such  obedience  is  ennobled  by  the  fact  that  it  is  rendered 
unto  Jesus  Christ  Himself,  since  the  priests  of  His  Church  were  fully 
invested  with  His  sacred  authority  by  the  might  of  His  own  infalli- 
ble words. 

THE  POPE. 

The  first  Pope,  the  first  Vicar  of  Jesus  Christ,  was  the  Apostle  St. 
Peter. 

Who  cannot  recall  the  memorable  passages  of  the  Gospel  in  which 
Jesus  Christ  first  promised  and  afterward  conferred  upon  him  the 
sovereignty  of  the  universe?  Our  Lord  was  in  Judea,  in  the  coun- 
try bordering  upon  the  town  of  Cesarea.  To  try  the  faith  of  His 
disciples,  He  asked  what  men  thought  concerning  Him.  They  an- 
swered, "  Some  believe  that  Thou  art  John  the  Baptist,  others  Elias, 
and  others  Jeremias,  or  one  of  the  prophets  risen  from  the  dead." 
Jesus  said  to  them,  "But  whom  do  you  say  that  I  am?"  And  imme- 
diately St.  Peter,  falling  on  his  knees,  exclaimed,  "Thou  art  Christ, 
the  Son  of  the  living  God."  Then  it  was  that  the  Saviour  allowed 
to  fall  from  His  lips  the  words  which  have  travelled  down  the  cen- 
turies with  such  marvellous  fertility,  and  which  still  shine  resplen- 
dently  at  Rome,  graven  in  gigantic  characters  above  the  tomb  of  the 
Apostle — "  Blessed  art  thou,  Simon  Bar-Jona,  because  flesh  and  blood 
hath  not  revealed  it  to  thee,  but  My  Father  who  is  in  heaven.  And 
I  say  to  thee,  That  thou  art  Peter ;  and  upon  this  rock  I  will  build 
My  Church,  and  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against  it.  And 
I  will  give  to  thee  the  keys  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  And  what- 
soever thou  shalt  bind  upon  earth,  it  shall  be  bound  also  in  heaven ; 
and  whatsoever  thou  shalt  loose  on  earth,  it  shall  be  loosed  also  in 
heaven." 

You  have  doubtless  often  heard  this  passage  of  the  Gospel  read, 


76  WHICH  IS  THE  TRUE   CHURCH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST? 

honor  and  obedience  of  his  children  because  he  is  their  fatherj 
although  they  may  know  that,  as  a  man,  he  has  been  guilty  of  many 
blamable  actions.  There  are  two  persons  in  the  Pope :  the  Pope  and 
the  man — as  a  man,  he  is  more  or  less  estimable,  according  to  the 
virtues  that  he  possesses ;  as  a  Pope,  he  is  always  worthy  of  all  our 
reverence,  and  has  a  right  to  our  entire  and  unquestioning  obedience. 
It  is  not  the  man,  it  is  the  Pope  who  is  always  guided  by  the  Holy 
Ghost. 

There  have  been  two  hundred  and  fifty-nine  popes,  from  St.  Peter 
to  the  time  of  our  Holy  Father  Leo  XIII.  now  reigning.  Of  this 
number  more  than  eighty  have  either  borne  the  palm  of  martyrdom, 
or  have  led  lives  of  such  eminent  holiness  that  they  are  numbered 
among  the  saints.  Scarcely  two  or  three  have  soiled  the  chair  of 
St.  Peter  by  notorious  vice.  The  greater  part  have  been  men  emi- 
nent either  for  their  capacity,  their  piety,  or  their  benevolence.  But 
it  may  safely  be  afiSrmed  that  not  one  among  them  has  possessed 
more  of  the  charm  of  virtue  than  our  present  Pontiff,  Leo  XIII. 

The  peace  of  God  shines  from  his  face.  The  well-known  charac- 
teristics of  his  calm  and  equable  nature  are  goodness  and  benevo- 
lence— a  clear  intellect,  and  a  constant  cheerfulness.  His  regular 
features,  his  eyes  of  an  undefinable  expression,  and  the  calm  dignity 
of  his  manner,  are  in  him  the  visible  signs  and  outward  revelations 
of  the  beauty  of  holiness.  He  is  at  once  the  sovereign  Pontiff  and 
the  good  Father.  It  is  a  great  happiness  to  receive  the  blessing  of 
the  Pope,  and  especially  of  such  a  Pope.  It  is  a  great  happiness  to 
be  able  to  make  a  pilgrimage  to  Rome,  and  to  see  the  successor  of 
St.  Peter  celebrating  the  Holy  Sacrifice  upon  the  very  tomb  of  the 
Apostle,  and  offering  to  the  adoration  of  the  faithful  the  hidden  God 
of  whom  he  is  the  Pontiff  and  the  Vicar.* 

WHICH  IS  THE  TRUE  CHURCH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST? 

Among  the  religious  communities  which  all  claim  to  be  considered 
the  true  Church,  it  is  of  the  highest  importance  to  distinguish  the 
one  which  speaks  truly  from  the  rest  who  are  deceived. 

Our  Lord  gives  us  in  His  Gospel  an  infallible  means,  a  sure  and 
evident  sign  by  which  we  may  recognize  His  Church.  And  is  it  not 
an  historical  fact,  clear  as  the  day,  and  quite  beyond  the  reach  of 
contradiction,  that  the  one  Catholic  Apostolic  Roman  Church  is 
founded  upon  St.  Peter,  the  first  Bishop  of  Rome,  the  first  Pope? 
*See  "Infallibility  of  the  Pope,"  vol.  i.,  p.  315. 


TRUTH  AND  ERROR.  "  81 

could  be  to  the  early  Christians.  I  mean  the  prophecies  of  the 
Gospel  and  their  accomplishment  in  the  world.  The  early  Christians 
saw  the  miracles  of  Jesus  Christ  and  of  His  Apostles,  but  they  did 
not  see  the  accomplishment  of  their  prophecies.  They  were,  never- 
theless, obliged  to  believe  in  them  firmly,  because  of  the  miracles 
they  saw.  Just  as  a  miracle  was  a  decisive  proof  to  the  first  Chris- 
tians, so  is  prophecy  a  decisive  proof  to  us,  who  have  clear  evidence 
of  the  divine  fact  of  its  accomplishment. 

And  let  us  observe,  in  conclusion,  that  the  evidence  gathered  from 
the  fulfilment  of  the  prophecies  is  perhaps  still  more  decisive  than 
that  which  is  gathered  from  miracles,  for  this  reason,  that  time  adds 
to  its  force,  day  after  day.  For  instance,  the  stability  of  the  Seat  of 
St.  Peter,  the  preservation  of  the  Jewish  people,  though  cursed  and 
scattered  all  over  the  world,  are  far  more  striking  facts  now  than 
they  could  have  been  four  or  five  hundred  years  ago.  And  how 
much  more  will  this  be  the  case  four  or  five  thousand  years  hence,  if 
the  world  last  so  long  (which  is  more  than  doubtful)  ? 

Therefore,  there  are  miracles,  though  fewer  than  formerly,  be- 
cause the  occasion  has  greatly  ceased ;  and  they  are  sent  no  longer 
as  an  evidence  of  the  truth,  but  are  given  as  divine  consolations. 
The  miracle  which  fills  the  world  is  the  Holy  Catholic  Church. 

TRUTH  AND   ERROR. 

There  is  but  one  true  religion,  as  we  have  continually  repeated. 
In  all  centuries  the  spirit  of  falsehood  and  error  has  raised  up  in 
opposition  to  this  holy  religion  many  contrary  beliefs  which  are  only 
human  inventions.  To  all  such  we  give  the  name  of  hereby,  which 
means  simply  a  false  faith.  All  have  one  marked  char.Jicteristic. 
Man  alone  has  been  their  originator,  and  they  do  not  descend  from 
the  Apostles.  Separated  from  the  truth,  which  is  nowhere  to  be 
found  in  its  completeness  but  in  the  Catholic  Church,  these  false  re- 
ligions endure  for  a  time,  then,  perish,  having  first  ruined  the  souls  of 
men,  and  brought  forth  the  fruits  of  indifference  and  irreligion.  In 
the  midst  of  all  the  dissension  and  confusion  which  ever  accompanies 
mistaken  creeds,  the  ancient  Church  of  God  remains  ever  the  same, 
teaching  ever  the  same  true  doctrine,  preaching  ever  the  same  pure 
morality,  and  producing  ever  in  the  hearts  of  her  children  the  same 
sublime  virtues.  This  difference  need  not  cause  astonishment ;  the 
work  of  God  does  not  resemble  the  works  of  men,  and  Jasus  Christ, 
the  divine  Founder  of  the  Church,  will  not  suffer  it  to  1 1  shakea. 

6 


86  ANGELS  AND  SAINTS. 

The  Bible  is  no  longer  the  word  of  God,  because  it  is  no  longei 
according  to  the  mind  of  God.  Every  Protestant — every  Protestant 
clergyman — interprets  the  sacred  words  according  to  the  ever-chang- 
ing tenor  of  his  mind,  and  often  forces  them  into  a  false  subservience 
to  his  own  unfounded  opinions.  This  mode  of  interpretation,  carried 
to  an  extreme,  will  even  provide  its  adherents  with  a  cloak  for  wrong 
doing,  and  enable  them  to  say,  By  following  my  inclinations  I  am 
not  only  exempt  from  sin,  but  I  am  doing  the  will  of  God !  This 
subject  recalls  to  us  the  slightly  stinging  answer  made  by  a  good 
and  holy  prelate  (Monsignor  de  Cheverus,  Archbishop  of  Bordeaux) 
to  a  Protestant  clergyman  who  had  engaged  in  a  discussion  with 
him,  and  had  cited  in  opposition  to  his  remarks  a  number  of  texts 
from  the  Bible — texts  both  misunderstood  and  misapplied,  and  hav- 
ing, besides,  no  possible  connection  with  each  other. 

"Is  it  not  written  in  the  Gospel,  my  dear  sir,"  said  the  prelate 
calmly,  when  the  minister  had  ended  his  quotations — "is  it  not 
written  that  Judas  hanged  himself?"  "Certainly,"  answered  the 
minister,  slightly  surprised.  "And  is  it  not  also  written,  'Go,  and 
do  thou  in  like  manner?'  Why,  then,  have  you  not  yet  hanged 
yourself?"  The  minister  retired  from  the  conflict,  ensnared  and 
much  confused. 

Thus  it  follows  that  by  constantly  applying  the  Bible  illogically, 
unconnectedly,  and  according  to  fancy,  men  are  able  to  gather  from 
the  most  sublime  of  books  the  most  absurd  and  dangerous  ideas. 
For  this  reason,  a  living  and  infallible  interpreter  is  needed  too  ex- 
plain this  book,  just  as  a  judge  and  a  tribunal  are  needed  to  expound 
and  declare  a  law.     This  interpreter  is  the  Catholic  Church. 

ANGELS  AND  SAINTS. 

We  are  here  on  earth  only  that  we  may  hereafter  attain  to  heaven. 
There  is  no  exception  to  this  rule,  and  whoever  fails  to  reach  heaven 
is  eternally  lost — eternally  condemned  to  the  flames  of  hell.  The 
irreligious  and  the  unbelieving  may  say  what  they  will;  the  fact 
remains  the  same,  and  no  words  of  theirs  will  alter  it. 

This  present  life  is  the  time  for  work ;  the  future  life  is  the  time 
of  rest  and  reward.  Those  who  have  already  gained  this  rest  and 
this  reward  are  angels  and  saints.  The  angels  are  pure  spirits,  who 
at  the  moment  of  their  creation,  in  the  beginning  of  time,  adored 
Jesus  Christ,  incarnate  upon  earth,  and  revealed  to  them  by  God 
from  afar,  and  thus  merited  by  this  act  of  faith,  submission,  and 


90  THE  SOULS  IN  PURGATORY. 


THE  SOULS  IN  PURGATORY. 

On  the  2d  of  November  the  Church  celebrates  a  feast  which  is  at 
the  same  time  most  solemn  and  most  touching.  This  is  the  com- 
memoration (or  remembrance)  of  the  faithful  departed. 

This  feast  does  not  concern  the  souls  of  all  those  who  have  gone 
before  us  on  this  earth.  Many  are  already  in  the  enjoyment  of  the 
eternal  rest  of  heaven,  and  their  feast  is  celebrated  the  day  before, 
on  November  1st,  the  day  of  All  Saints.  These  are  the  souls  of 
those  who,  when  their  earthly  probation  was  over,  were  found  in  a 
state  of  grace  at  the  moment  of  death,  and  also  of  those  whose  puri- 
fication from  sin  in  the  flames  of  purgatory  is  already  ended.  These 
holy  souls  have  no  further  need  of  our  suffrages.  They  can  only 
receive  our  homage  and  our  prayers;  they  have  for  ever  entered  into 
joy  and  into  perfect  gladness.   .  .  . 

There  are  other  souls,  alas!  and  in  great  numbers,  with  whom 
this  sacred  commemoration  has  no  connection :  these  are  the  souls  of 
those  who  are  eternally  and  irrevocably  condemned  to  the  torments 
of  hell  because  they  rejected  God,  and  separated  themselves  from 
His  love,  during  that  time  when  they  were  able  to  choose  between 
good  and  evil,  between  the  love  of  God  and  the  love  of  sin.  There 
is  no  feast,  there  are  no  prayers  for  them,  neither  in  the  Church 
which  is  still  militant  on  earth,  nor  in  the  Church  which  already 
reigns  in  heaven.  For  them  there  is  nothing  but  an  eternal  remorse, 
an  eternal  despair,  an  eternal  void,  nothing  but  these  eternally  re- 
venging flames,  which  devour  without  consuming — those  flames  of 
which  Jesus  Christ  speaks  so  often  in  His  Gospel  as  the  certain  doom 
of  sinners.  "They  shall  be  cast,"  He  says,  "into  everlasting  fire, 
into  the  fire  which  is  not  extinguished,  where  the  victims  shall  be 
salted  with  fire  [that  is  to  say,  preserved  and  yet  penetrated],  and 
where  there  shall  be  weeping  and  gnashing  of  teeth.   ..." 

The  feast  of  All  Souls  relates,  therefore,  to  the  souls  in  purgatory 
alone.  Purgatory  is  a  state  of  suffering  in  which  those  souls  who 
were  found  at  the  time  of  death  in  a  state  of  grace,  but  who  had  not 
sufficiently  expiated  their  sins  by  repentance,  are  perfectly  purified 
that  they  may  be  worthy  to  appear  among  the  saints. 

Purgatory  is  that  formidable  future  in  which  we  are  destined  to 
pay  all  that  we  owe  to  divine  justice.  Purgatory  presents  the  dark- 
ness and  the  desolation,  the  grief  and  the  remorse  of  hell.  There  is 
the  same  terrible  fire,  there  are  the  same  torments;   everything  is 


^SECOND    PART^ 


THE  SACRAMENTS. 

Jesus  Christ  Our  Lord,  the  Son  of  God  made  man,  chose  and  in- 
stituted certain  outward  signs  to  transmit  His  grace  to  men,  and  it 
is  these  outward  signs  that  Christians  call  the  sacraments.  Just  as 
God  communicated  Himself  to  us,  in  the  mystery  of  the  Incarnation, 
under  a  visible  form,  and  by  means  of  that  sacred  humanity  to  which 
He  united  His  own  divine  Person,  so  He  continues  to  unite  Himself 
to  our  souls  under  visible  forms,  and  by  means  of  the  holy  sacra- 
ments. 

The  sacraments  are  the  outward  and  visible  part  of  religion ;  they 
answer  the  same  end  as  the  humanity  of  Jesus  Christ  in  the  Incarna- 
tion. They  are  to  the  Holy  Spirit  what  the  body  is  to  the  soul;  the 
Holy  Spirit  is  the  soul  of  the  Church,  and  is  given  to  her  by  the  sac- 
raments: they  are,  therefore,  the  instruments  or  outward  channels 
of  God's  grace,  and  are  to  the  Church  what  the  bark  is  to  the  tree. 
Jesus  Christ  instituted  them  as  the  necessary  means  of  our  sanctifi- 
cation.  And,  although  they  are  only  means,  we  are  all  obliged  to 
have  recourse  to  them  in  order  to  attain  true  holiness. 

The  sacraments,  we  have  said,  are  outward  signs.  An  outward 
sign  is  an  external  thing  which  can  be  grasped  or  apprehended  by 
the  senses,  and  which  signifies  some  other  thing  which  the  senses 
cannot  apprehend.  Thus,  if  I  clench  my  hand,  and  confront  my 
neighbor,  I  make  use  of  an  outward  sign.  My  gesture  is  outward, 
because  it  appeals  to  the  sense  of  sight ;  and  it  is  a  sign,  because  it 
signifies  something  that  cannot  be  seen,  namely,  the  threat  I  would 
convey  to  my  neighbor,  and  the  resentment  that  I  feel  toward  him. 

All  words  are  outward  signs ;  they  are  outward,  because  in  being 
heard  they  affect  the  sense  of  hearing;  and  they  are  signs,  because 
the  different  sounds  which  they  form  express  and  signify  our 
thoughts,  which  are  invisible,  and  are  hidden  in  the  depths  of  the 
mind.  The  Christian  sacraments  are  all  outward  signs;  they  may 
all  be  apprehended  by  one  or  other  of  the  five  senses ;  they  consist 


BAPTISM.  101 

sin,  in  order  to  receive  these  sacraments  worthily.  If  any  one  re- 
ceived knowingly  either  of  these  sacraments  in  a  state  of  mortal  sin, 
he  would  not  only  forfeit  the  grace  bestowed  through  the  indwelling 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  the  heart,  but  would  moreover  commit  a  horri- 
ble sacrilege,  and  would  trample  underfoot  the  merits  of  Jesus 
Christ,  from  whom  all  the  efi&cacy  of  the  sacraments  springs. 

Woe  unto  him  who  commits  the  sin  of  sacrilege;  woe  to  the  un- 
worthy Christian  who  dares  to  communicate,  or  to  receive  confirma- 
tion, or  to  be  married  in  a  state  of  mortal  sin,  without  having  first 
obtained  the  pardon  of  his  sins  by  the  means  of  a  good  confession  I 
The  Son  of  God  shall  return  to  him  once  more,  at  the  day  of  judg- 
ment ;  and  for  that  unhappy  man  the  greatness  of  His  mercy  shall  be 
forever  obliterated  in  the  greatness  of  His  justice. 

But,  on  the  other  hand,  how  great  is  the  joy,  how  inexhaustible 
the  source  of  consolation  for  the  true  Qhristian  who  beholds  his  God 
ever  ready  to  assist  him  in  all  his  weak  endeavors.  He  can  every 
day,  and  at  any  moment  in  his  life,  drink  plentifully  at  these  life- 
giving  fountains,  which  are  the  sources  of  all  grace,  and  whose 
"waters,"  said  Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  "spring  forth  unto  ever- 
lasting life." 

BAPTISM. 

There  are,  as  we  have  just  said,  seven  sacraments  in  the  Christian 
religion  —  that  is  to  say,  there  are  seven  rites  or  external  signs 
chosen  by  Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  Himself  to  sanctify  our  souls,  by 
transmitting  to  them  the  divine  grace  to  supply  our  various  spiritual 
requirements. 

The  life  of  the  soul  may  be  compared  to  the  life  of  the  body.  In 
order  to  grow,  to  develop,  to  receive  nourishment,  and  to  accom- 
plish all  its  functions,  the  body  must  first  of  all  be  filled  with  the 
breath  of  life.  It  is  the  same  with  the  soul.  It  must  first  of  all  re 
ceive  life  by  its  union  with  Jesus  Christ ;  and  if  it  does  not  receive 
this  life  it  can  do  no  Christian  deeds,  nor  attain  true  sanctification. 
Therefore,  Baptism  is  that  external  ceremony  which  has  been  or- 
dained by  God  to  give  life  to  the  soul,  and  to  enable  us  to  be  born  of 
the  spirit,  and  to  become  the  children  of  God  and  of  His  Church. 
For  this  reason  we  call  Baptism  the  first  and  most  fundamental  of 
the  sacraments,  without  which  no  one  can  be  a  Christian,  or  have 
any  part  with  Jesus  Christ. 

Baptism  is  given  by  taking  water  and  pouring  it  upon  the  head  of 
the  man  or  child  who  presents  himself  to  be  made  a  Christian,  while 


CONFIRMATION.  103 

like  the  taper,  which,  as  it  gradually  consumes,  becomes  nothing  else 
but  light. 

The  day  of  our  baptism  is  the  day  of  our  true  birth — that  is,  of 
our  birth  to  the  true  life.  For  we  are  not  destined  to  live  on  earth 
even  like  sheep  and  oxen  which  have  no  souls,  but  are  created  for 
the  life  eternal — are  created  to  know  God,  to  love  Him,  and  to  serve 
Him  with  an  undivided  heart  all  through  the  probation  of  this  mor- 
tal life,  that  we  may  thus  reach  our  heavenly  home,  heirs  to  the  hap- 
piness that  knows  no  end. 

We  must  faithfully  keep  the  sacred  promises  of  our  baptism,  and 
must  take  great  care  in  causing  them  to  be  observed  by  those  who 
depend  upon  us.  Children  of  God,  brothers  of  Jesus  Christ,  let  us 
prove  ourselves  worthy  of  the  grace  bestowed  on  us  in  our  baptism. 
To  do  this,  we  must  avoid  sin,  fight  against  temptation,  and  be  fre- 
quent in  prayer ;  we  must  attend  religious  instructions  (especially  on 
Sundays  and  on  festivals),  and  constantly  observe  the  command- 
ments of  God  and  the  laws  of  the  Church.  In  one  word,  we  must  in 
all  things  strive  to  follow  Christ.  Earth  has  nothing  more  truly 
great  and  noble  than  the  Christian  whose  life  does  no  dishonor  to  the 
sacred  name  he  bears. 

CONFIRMATIOR 

Baptism  is  the  first  sacrament  of  the  Christian  religion ;  Confirma- 
tion is  the  second.  Confirmation  is,  in  respect  to  Baptism,  just  what 
the  development  of  youth  and  manhood  is  to  the  simple  birth.  By 
birth  we  become  men,  but  we  are  not  men  yet  in  every  sense  of  the 
term — men  capable  of  speaking,  acting,  working,  and  fighting.  To 
become  perfect  men,  we  must  grow  and  acquire  strength,  and  gradu- 
ally develop  into  manhood.  So  it  is  with  the  soul,  of  which  the  body 
is  only  the  symbol  and  visible  image.  Our  soul  is  spiritually  united 
to  Jesus  Christ  by  baptism,  and  thus  becomes  a  living  soul  in  the 
sight  of  God.  But  the  sacrament  of  Confirmation  is  needed  to  de- 
velop and  bring  to  perfection  the  grace  given  in  baptism,  and  to 
make  the  Christian  a  perfect  Christian. 

We  do  not  mean  by  this  that  all  those  who  are  confirmed  are  per- 
fect ;  alas !  the  devil  and  human  weakness  ever  remain.  But  in  Con- 
firmation, the  Christian  receives  from  God  all  the  strength  he  needs 
to  become  and  to  continue  a  perfect  Christian — that  is  to  say,  a 
saint. 

Our  Lord  gives  us  this  assistance  once  for  all,  and  for  this  reasoif 


HOLY  EUCHARIST.  106 

consoling  for  the  true  Christian,  so  terrible  for  the  unworthy — "He 
who  shall  be  ashamed  of  Me  before  men,  of  him  will  I  also  be 
ashamed  before  My  Father  at  the  last  day.  He  who  perseveres  unto 
the  end  shall  be  saved." 

HOLY  EUCHARIST. 

Holy  Eucharist  is  the  third  sacrament  of  the  Christian  religion. 
If  Baptism  give  life  to  the  soul  by  uniting  us  spiritually  to  Jesus 
Christ,  if  Confirmation  develop  and  complete  this  life-giving  union, 
the  Holy  Eucharist  is  destined  to  preserve  and  nourish  it. 

Holy  Eucharist  is  a  sacrament  instituted  by  Our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  and  contains  our  adorable  Saviour  Himself,  under  the  ap- 
pearances of  bread  and  wine.  The  day  before  His  Passion,  Jesus 
Christ  took  bread  into  His  sacred  hands,  blessed  it,  and  changed  it 
by  His  almighty  power  into  His  own  Body  and  Blood.  "Take,"  said 
He  to  His  Apostles,  "take  and  eat  ye  all  of  this;  for  this  is  my 
BODY."  And  when  they  had  communicated,  He  took  a  chalice  of 
wine,  blessed  it  in  the  same  manner,  and  changed  it  into  His  pre- 
cious blood,  saying,  "Take  and  drink  ye  all  of  this;  for  this  is  my 
BLOOD,  the  blood  of  the  new  and  eternal  testament,  which  shall  be 
shed  for  you  and  for  many,  to  the  remission  of  sins."  Then  He  gave 
to  His  Apostles,  who  thus  became  the  first  priests,  the  command  and 
the  power  to  do  what  He  Himself  had  done,  to  change  bread  and 
wine  into  the  Body  and  Blood  of  Jesus  Christ.  "And  you,"  he 
added,  "  as  often  as  ye  do  these  things,  ye  shall  do  them  in  remem- 
brance of  Me."  Ever  since  that  time,  the  Apostles,  and  their  legiti- 
mate successors,  the  bishops  and  priests  of  the  Catholic  Church,  have 
every  day,  when  celebrating  Mass,  consecrated  bread  and  wine;  and 
it  is  this  bread  and  wine,  miraculously  changed  into  the  Body  and 
Blood  of  Our  Lord,  that  we  call  the  sacrament  of  Holy  Eucharist,  or 
the  Blessed  Sacrament.  To  communicate  is  to  receive  the  sacrament 
of  Holy  Eucharist,  or,  in  other  words,  it  is  to  receive  the  Body  and 
Blood  of  Jesus  Christ,  really  present,  though  hidden  beneath  the 
veils  of  the  sacred  Host.  This  Body  is  verily  the  same  Body  that 
was  once  upon  this  earth,  but  it  is  not  under  the  same  conditions. 
In  the  Holy  Eucharist  it  is  in  a  glorified  condition,  and  is  thus  im- 
measurably removed  from  the  grossness  of  the  natural  and  earthly 
body.  To  make  a  good  communion  is  to  receive  Jesus  Christ  with 
right  dispositions;  to  make  a  bad  communion  is  to  receive  Him  with 
evil  dispositions.     The  first,  the  noblest,  holiest,  and  most  sublime 


110      BEAIi  PRESENCE   OF  JESUS  CHRIST  IN  THE  HOLY  EUCHARIST. 


ON   THE    REAL   PRESENCE  OF   OUR   LORD  JESUS 
CHRIST   IN  THE  HOLY  EUCHARIST. 

The  Eucharist  is  a  sacrament  (viz.,  an  outward  sign),  which  con- 
tains Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  living  and  concealed  under  the  appear- 
ances of  bread  and  wine. 

The  Church  teaches  us  that  the  bread  and  wine  are  changed  in  the 
hands  of  the  priest  during  Mass  into  the  Body  and  the  Blood  of  Jesus 
Christ.  It  is  this  mysterious  bread,  Jesus  Christ  Himself,  that 
Christians  call  the  Eucharist  or  the  Blessed  Sacrament.  Behold! 
how  deep  a  mystery!  glorious,  unfathomable,  and  divine!  But  are 
we  perfectly  sure  that  we  are  not  mistaken  ?  is  it  a  certain  fact  that 
Jesus  Christ  is  really  present  in  the  Blessed  Sacrament?  yes,  it  is 
very  certain,  very  sure,  and  we  desire  no  other  proof  than  the  divine 
words  of  Jesus  Himself. 

The  more  impenetrable  this  mystery,  the  more  implicit  and  abso- 
lute the  faith  required  of  us  by  the  Son  of  God,  so  much  the  more 
distinct  and  unmistakable  would  have  been  the  teaching  that  He 
gave  us  concerning  it.  And  such  that  teaching  is;  and  His  words 
on  the  subject  of  the  real  presence  are  so  perfectly  plain,  so  clear 
and  positive,  that  for  three  hundred  years  Protestants  have  turned 
and  twisted  in  vain  in  a  useless  endeavor  to  evade  the  full  force  and 
meaning  of  words  they  cannot  deny.  The  evidence  remains,  and 
overwhelms  them. 

Let  them,  for  instance,  open  the  Gospel.  Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
speaks  twice  of  the  Holy  Eucharist;  the  first  time  to  promise  it, 
about  a  year  before  His  death ;  the  second  time  to  institute  it.  The 
promise  is  related  by  the  Apostle  St.  John,  in  the  sixth  chapter  of 
his  Gospel.  Our  Lord  was  by  the  Sea  of  Galilee.  He  had  just  mi- 
raculously fed  five  thousand  persons  with  five  loaves.  Multiplied  in 
the  hands  of  the  Apostles  who  distributed  them  to  the  people  by  the 
command  of  their  Master,  these  miraculous  loaves  were  a  symbol  and 
an  acted  prophecy  of  that  living  bread,  far  more  mysterious,  which 
these  same  Apostles,  and  the  priests,  their  successors,  should  be  one 
day  charged  to  distribute  to  all  Christian  people.  Overcome  with 
admiration  at  the  sight  of  this  great  miracle,  they  said  among  them- 
selves, "This  is  of  a  truth  the  Messias  whom  we  look  for."  "Labor 
not,"  said  the  Lord  to  them,  "for  the  meat  which  perisheth,  but  for 
that  which  endureth  unto  life  everlasting,  which  the  Son  of  Man 


THE  PRIEST.  133 

is  called  the  Mass.  The  breviary  or  divine  office  is  that  daily  prayer 
to  which  all  priests  are  bound,  and  which  they  recite,  not  only  on 
their  own  account,  but  in  the  name  of  all  Christians  and  of  the  whole 
world.  Thence  they  draw  that  holiness,  charity,  and  self-devotion 
which  they  need,  in  order  to  fulfil  efficaciously  the  second  of  their 
duties,  viz.,  the  sanctification  of  souls.  For  it  is  to  sanctify  and  to 
save  men  that  priests,  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ,  teach  religion, 
make  known  to  all  the  law  of  God,  administer  the  sacraments,  remit 
sins,  and  fulfil  all  other  offices  of  the  sacerdotal  ministry.  He  that 
heareth  them,  heareth  Jesus  Christ;  he  that  rejects  them,  rejects 
salvation  and  eternal  life. 

Let  us  pray  to  God  to  send  us  good  priests.  A  good  priest  is  like 
Jesus  Christ,  and  in  Jesus  Christ  the  saviour  and  benefactor  of  all 
who  approach  him.  The  sacrament  of  Holy  Order  is  thus  useful  to 
ourselves ;  and  it  is  through  this  sacrament  that  we  have  the  knowl- 
edge of  God,  and  are  able  to  practise  His  holy  law,  and  that  we  are 
not  deprived,  like  so  many  unhappy  souls,  of  the  light  and  the  peace 
of  the  true  religion. 

THE  PRIEST. 

There  is  in  the  midst  of  us  a  man  little  appreciated,  too  often 
little  loved,  and  sometimes  frightfully  calumniated,  and  yet  who  is, 
nevertheless,  just  the  one  man  who  is  most  worthy  of  the  reverence 
and  confidence  of  all.  This  man  is  the  Christian  priest — the  con- 
soler of  all  who  suffer,  and  the  friend  of  all  the  friendless ;  and  it  is 
against  him  that  the  scoffing  and  the  irreligious,  enemies  of  God  and 
of  society,  constantly  endeavor  to  prejudice  the  minds  of  men. 

The  priest  is  attacked  in  this  manner  only  because  he  is  the 
minister  of  God.  The  man  who  would  have  no  God,  would  also 
have  no  priest ;  and,  knowing  that  he  is  powerless  to  impose  silence 
upon  this  inconvenient  preacher  of  the  divine  law,  he  seeks  to  expel 
him,  or  at  least  to  rob  him  of  the  confidence  of  men  in  order  to  para- 
lyze his  ministry. 

The  priest  has  been  sent  to  his  brethren  by  Jesus  Christ,  even 
as  He  himself  was  sent.  "Even  as  My  Father  hath  sent  Me,"  said 
Jesus  to  the  Apostles,  His  first  priests,  "I  also  send  you!"  Jesus 
was  sent  to  save  the  world  by  the  sacrifice  of  Himself,  to  enlighten 
it  by  His  teaching,  and  to  console  it  by  His  mercy.  And  thus  He 
sends  His  priests  to  save,  instruct,  console,  and  sanctify  their 
brethren;   or  rather,  He  Himself  fulfils,  by  means  of  His  priests, 


MATRIMONY.  139 

the  little  elect.  Let  him  choose  without  fear  the  hetter  part.  It  is 
the  most  sublime,  and  the  sweetest ;  it  is  the  most  Divine,  and  the 
simplest;  thus,  where  responsibilities  abound,  graces  also  abound, 
and  this  vocation  to  a  more  perfect  life  is,  essentially,  only  a  voca- 
tion to  a  nobler,  truer,  purer  happiness;  it  is  the  mark  of  a  more 
tender  love. 

MATRIMONY. 

Matrimony  is  a  contract  instituted  by  God  from  the  beginning  of 
the  world,  by  which  a  man  and  woman  give  themselves  freely  and 
irrevocably  to  each  other  as  husband  and  wife.  Matrimony  is  there- 
fore a  sacred  and  a  religious  contract,  and  is  of  a  far  higher  nature 
than  any  other  contract  common  among  men.  It  is  irrevocable  when 
a  free  consent  has  been  once  given  upon  both  sides;  it  is  beyond 
recall,  and  the  union  is  for  life. 

Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  came  to  sanctif}''  the  world  in  order  to 
save  it,  did  not  forget  marriage,  the  foundation  of  human  society 
and  the  basis  of  family  life.  This  contract,  already  holy  and  sacred, 
was  raised  by  Christ  to  the  dignity  of  a  sacrament.  Therefore, 
among  Christians,  marriage  is  an  essentially  religious  act,  a  source 
of  grace  and  sanctification  for  the  faithful  husband  and  wife,  and 
its  violation  is  not  only  an  injustice,  but  an  undoubted  sacrilege. 

In  the  eyes  of  Christians  and  of  the  Church  there  is  but  one  true 
and  legitimate  marriage,  that  which  is  contracted  according  to  the 
law  of  God,  in  the  presence  of  God's  minister,  and  in  obedience  to 
the  rules  laid  down  by  the  Church. 

A  marriage,  to  be  valid,  must  be  contracted  in  the  presence  of  the 
parish  priest  and  of  two  witnesses.  When  the  persons  presenting 
themselves  to  be  itiarried  have  been  interrogated  by  the  priest  as  to 
their  free  and  voluntary  consent  to  take  each  other  mutually  for 
husband  and  wife,  and  have  both  answered  in  the  affirmative,  they 
are  forever  united,  they  have  received  the  sacrament  of  matrimony, 
and  commit  a  mortal  sin  if  their  hearts  are  not  prepared  for  this 
solemn  religious  act.* 

In  order  to  receive  this  sacrament  aright,  it  is  necessary  to  prepare 
for  it  by  prayer  and  by  a  good  confession ;  and  in  many  countries 

*In  England  and  the  United  States,  the  contracting  of  marriage  otherwise  than 
before  the  priest  and  two  witnesses,  though  illicit  and  sinful  is  not  necessarily  invalid  ; 
for  the  Decree  of  the  Council  of  Trent  on  Clandestine  Marriages,  not  having  been  pub- 
lished in  those  countries,  is,  therefore,  by  virtue  of  a  provision  in  the  Decree  itself, 
not  binding  upon  persons  living  therein. 


BEFORE   MARRIAGE.  141 

the  Church.  In  case  one  party  is  not  even  baptized,  this  should  be 
made  known  before,  as  it  is  an  impediment  that  renders  the  mar- 
riage null. 

BEFORE  MARRIAGE. 

It  is  a  very  serious  thing  to  marry.  To  a  great  many  people  mar- 
riage resembles  a  kind  of  perpetual  treadmill;  they  are  in  despair  at 
the  dreary  prospect  of  being  forever  bound  to  one  another;  they  tear 
their  hair  (figuratively  speaking),  and  would  give  the  whole  world  to 
be  able  to  recall  the  fatal  Yes,  and  to  utter  in  its  place  a  distinct  and 
unhesitating  No.  .  .  .  Vain  regrets !  this  union  is  for  life.  There- 
fore, before  entering  into  marriage,  let  us  reflect  very  seriously  on 
what  we  are  about  to  do,  that  we  may  not  prepare  for  ourselves,  like 
so  many  others,  a  miserable  future. 

The  following  suggestions,  if  acted  upon,  are  calculated  to  prevent 
many  bitter  awakenings:  they  bear  chiefly  upon  three  important 
questions-  1st,  Shall  I  marry?  2d,  Whom  shall  I  marry?  3d, 
When  I  have  chosen,  how  shall  I  prepare  for  marriage? 

1st,  Shall  I  marry?  Do  not  deceive  yourself.  The  marriage  state 
is  usually  far  more  difiScult,  and  far  harder  than  that  of  celibacy. 
The  unmarried  are  responsible  only  for  their  own  acts,  and  there  is 
no  one  to  share  the  burden  of  their  troubles,  failures,  and  mistakes. 
Once  married,  this  responsibility  is  extended  to  the  husband  or  the 
wife,  who  usually  finds  this  burden  slightly  insupportable.  Besides, 
it  is  very  diflQcult  to  find  perfection  in  a  husband  or  a  wife ;  the  edu- 
cation of  each  has  been  different,  and  their  ideas  are  not  the  same; 
"^M?^  aime  le  vinaigre,  P autre  prefere  Vhuile,"  from  all  of  which 
spring  tears,  disputes,  and  constant  discord.  While  unmarried, 
everything  went  smoothly ;  the  daily  requirement  was  simple  enough, 
but  now  there  are  more  expenses,  and  hardly  more  receipts,  hence 
difficulties  arise,  and  it  is  a  question  how  to  make  the  two  ends 
meet. 

In  short,  the  state  of  marriage  is  a  difficult  one;  it  brings  great 
duties  and  heavy  burdens;  it  is  a  yoke  which  no  one  can  shake  off 
who  has  once  submitted  to  it ;  all  should  reflect  seriously  before  de- 
ciding to  accept  it,  but  it  is  a  source  of  much  happiness,  and  some- 
times of  salvation. 

Supposing  that  I  have  answered  this  question.  Shall  I  marry,  with 
an  affirmative,  what  is  the  next  thing  to  be  done? 

Whom  shall  I  marry?    Ah!   this  is  no  trifling  question  I    To 


AFTER  MARRIAGE.  147 


AFTER  MARRIAGR 

After  the  roses,  thorns ;  and  on  the  rose-trees,  how  few  the  roses, 
and  how  many  the  thorns;  in  this  sense  all  marriages  are,  like 
rose-trees,  more  or  less  garnished  with  thorns.  What  are  these 
thorns?  What  are  the  duties  which  fall  so  heavily  upon  married 
people? 

(1)  Their  common  life  and  common  cares.  All  husbands  have 
their  faults,  all  wives  have  theirs.  During  the  first  few  months 
everything  is  perfection.  "My  husband  is  so  kind  and  considerate!" 
"My  wife  is  an  angel  of  goodness!"  .  .  .  But  in  time  the  perfection 
of  the  husband  evaporates,  and  only  the  husband  "  full  of  faults" 
remains;  the  "angel"  loses  one  by  one  the  gilded  plumes  of  her 
wings,  until  the  disappointed  husband  is  finally  brought  face  to  face 
with  a  woman,  far  from  perfect,  a  woman  exactly  similar  to  other 
women!  What  can  he  do  then?  Confronted  by  this  hard  reality, 
must  he  grow  angry,  irritable,  and  despondent?  No,  indeed;  he 
must  simply  bear  it.  Understand  this  clearly:  he  must.  It  is  a 
duty,  a  conjugal  duty;  one  of  the  first  requirements  in  the  yoke  of 
marriage. 

"  But  my  husband  makes  himself  perfectly  hateful ;  he  is  unreason- 
able, obstinate,  and  always  ready  for  some  dispute!"  Bear  with 
him  patiently ;  you  are  his  wife,  and  in  spite  of  all  his  faults  he  is 
your  husband.  Bear  with  him,  and,  still  more,  obey  him  in  all  that 
wounds  neither  honor  nor  conscience.  The  wife,  indeed,  owes  her 
husband  not  help  and  sympathy  alone,  but  deference,  submission, 
honor,  and  obedience.  .  .  .  "But  my  wife  is  the  most  trying  of 
women;  my  patience  is  all  gone;  she  is  ill-tempered,  jealous,  ab- 
surd!" Bear  with  her.  At  the  moment  of  your  marriage  you 
entered  into  a  religious  engagement  before  God,  and  before  her,  to 
bear  with  her  whatever  she  might  be.  Live  with  her  then  as  happily 
as  possible,  show  her  all  the  affecfcion,  all  the  kind  consideration 
which  she  has  a  right  to  expect  from  you.  It  is  by  gentleness  and 
not  by  violence  that  you  may  even  yet  derive  much  happiness  from 
your  marriage.  "A  drop  of  honey,"  says  St.  Francis  of  Sales,  "at- 
tracts more  flies  than  a  cask  of  vinegar." 

The  every-day  duties  of  life  are  not  so  simple  as  some  appear  to 
think.  People  need  no  small  amount  of  virtue  to  enable  them  to 
adapt  themselves  willingly  to  each  other  in  the  thousand  little  details 
of  ordinary  existence.     It  is,  as  a  rule,  more  difficult  for  two  persons 


^THIRD    PART^ 


WHAT  IT  IS  TO  BE  A  CHRISTIAR 

Do  my  Christian  readers  clearly  understand  what  it  truly  is  to  be 
a  Christian? 

It  certainly  is  not,  as  some  people  with  slightly  confused  ideas  ap- 
pear to  imagine,  merely  to  abstain  from  murdering  or  plundering 
your  neighbor.  To  do  this  is  just  to  escape  being  a  villain,  that  is 
all. 

To  be  a  Christian  is  not  merely  to  be  a  good  father,  a  good  hus- 
band, a  good  son,  a  good  workman,  an  industrious  and  honorable 
man,  a  good  comrade,  etc. ;  that  is  only  to  be  an  honest  man,  and  a 
Christian  is  something  more  than  an  honest  man. 

To  be  a  Christian  is  not  merely  to  respect  religion,  to  consider  it 
good  and  useful,  to  acknowledge  that  Christianity  has  inspired  noble 
deeds;  that  is  simply  to  judge  fairly,  and  to  possess  the  good  sense 
of  an  intelligent  man :  in  order  to  hold  such  opinions  as  these  nothing 
is  needed  but  to  rise  above  vulgar  prejudices,  and  to  despise  the 
pointless  sneers  of  a  shallow  philosophy. 

Lastly,  to  be  a  Christian  is  not  merely  to  observe  certain  exterior 
practices,  such  as  to  hear  Mass  regularly,  to  abstain,  or  even  to  go 
to  confession.  These  practices,  although  very  excellent,  are  never- 
theless only  means  by  which  to  become  and  to  remain  a  true  Chris- 
tian. Then  what  is  the  Christian  life?  and  what  is  a  true  Chris- 
tian? 

A  Christian  is  a  baptized  man,  who  believes  with  his  whole  heart 
all  that  is  taught,  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ,  by  the  Pope  and  the 
Bishops,  who  have  been  entrusted  by  the  Saviour  to  spread  the  Chris- 
tian religion  throughout  the  world ;  a  man,  moreover,  who  observes, 
as  far  as  human  weakness  will  allow,  all  the  commandments  of  God 
and  the  laws  of  the  Church ;  and  who  earnestly  strives  to  the  best  of 
his  power  to  imitate  Jesus  Christ,  his  God,  his  Saviour,  and  his  great 
example. 

A  Christian  is  a  man  who  loves  God  before  all  things,  who  would 
choose  to  suffer  anything  rather  than  offend  Him,  who  detests  sin 


152    WHY  MANY  UPRIGHT  PEOPLE  FAIL  TO  FULFIL  RELIGIOUS  DUTIES. 

that  is  required  of  us  by  God;  does  He  not  deserve  it  from  us?  Life 
passes  quickly !  Let  us  work  while  it  is  day :  blessed  is  that  servant 
whom  He  shall  find  watching;  a  few  hours  of  weariness,  a  few 
hours  of  brave  and  patient  fighting,  and  then,  to  the  passing  trials 
of  this  earthly  probation  succeeds  the  eternal  rest,  the  unutterable 
gladness  promised  by  the  Saviour. 

WHY  SO  MANY  UPRIGHT  PEOPLE   FAIL  TO  FUL- 
FIL THEIR  RELIGIOUS  DUTIES. 

It  is  a  fact,  and  one  which  is  much  to  be  regretted,  that  there  are 
a  great  number  of  men  and  women  of  unblemished  character,  of 
great  goodness  of  heart,  and  who  are  leading  correct  and  peaceful 
lives,  yet  who  do  not  fulfil  their  religious  duties.  They  pray,  in 
some  cases  at  all  events,  with  a  certain  amount  of  regularity ;  they 
do  not  ridicule  religion;  they  even  defend  it  when  there  is  need; 
from  time  to  time  they  hear  Mass  on  Sunday ;  they  abstain  on  Good 
Friday,  and  sometimes  on  all  Fridays;  they  regard  as  of  the  highest 
importance  that  religious  care  by  which  the  education  of  their  chil- 
dren is  surrounded ;  their  feelings  are  deeply  touched  at  the  time  of 
the  first  communion  of  their  son  or  daughter ;  they  would  not  die 
without  the  sacraments  for  any  earthly  consideration ;  their  life  ap- 
pears irreproachable.  Only  one  thing  is  wanting :  they  neither  go 
to  confession  nor  to  holy  communion.  Is  this  a  great  evil  when  all 
other  duties  are  faithfully  accomplished?  Yes,  a  great  evil.  A 
vessel  fastened  to  the  shore  by  an  iron  chain  becomes,  if  a  single  link 
of  this  chain  chance  to  be  broken,  the  mere  sport  of  the  waves,  and 
loses  its  only  protection.  God  is  our  Saviour  amidst  all  the  perils  of 
human  life  and  the  storm  of  human  passions;  the  chain  which  binds 
us  to  Him,  and  consequently  saves  us,  is  religion;  and  even  as  a 
chain  is  made  up  of  a  succession  of  links,  so  religion  is  made  up  of 
a  succession  of  obligations  which  form  one  complete  whole,  and  are 
closely  attached  one  to  another.  To  break  one  single  link,  to  violate 
one  single  precept  of  religion,  is  to  separate  ourselves  from  God,  to 
lose  the  life  of  the  soul,  and  to  jeopardize  our  eternal  salvation.  The 
obligation  for  every  Christian  to  confess  regularly,  and  to  communi- 
cate at  least  once  a  year,  is  an  absolute  and  rigorous  law,  the  viola- 
tion of  which  is  a  mortal  sin.  Therefore,  however  unbroken  the  rest 
of  the  chain,  if  this  double  link  is  wanting,  all  is  broken  between 
ourselves  and  God ;  whatever  the  blamelessness,  integrity,  and  mo- 
rality of  our  lives  in  every  other  respect,  this  twofold  duty  being 


163  ON  THE  FOLLY  OF  DELAY. 


ON  THE  FOLLY  OF  DELAY, 

The  past  belongs  to  us  no  more;  the  future  does  not  belong  to  ua 
yet,  and  perhaps  never  will,  the  present  only  is  ours.  Therefore, 
whenever  we  have  anything  of  consequence  to  do,  let  us,  if  possible, 
do  it  at  once,  and  never  put  it  off  until  that  to-morrow  which  per- 
haps may  not  arrive;  above  all  should  we  fear  to  defer  it  until 
some  distant  future. 

An  incident  which  happened  recently  in  a  prison  at  Paris  will  help 
to  show  how  wise  and  necessary  this  rule  of  conduct  is.  The  prison 
consists  of  two  divisions;  in  one  part  the  ordinary  criminals  are  con- 
fined, while  the  other  is  entirely  allotted  to  more  youthful  offenders, 
who,  owing  to  their  precocity  in  vice,  have  been  condemned  to  a 
certain  length  of  imprisonment.  Easter-time  was  drawing  near. 
The  good  chaplain  of  this  prison,  therefore,  assembled  all  these 
young  men,  and  after  speaking  to  them  on  the  serious  obligation  of 
fulfilling  their  Easter  duties,  he  requested  those  who  desired  to  pre- 
pare themselves  to  give  him  their  names  that  he  might  write  them 
down.  All  presented  themselves,  with  only  one  exception.  This 
was  a  young  man  of  seventeen. 

The  chaplain,  troubled  at  his  silence,  which  contrasted  so  forcibly 
with  the  willing  assent  of  the  others,  went  the  following  day  to  see 
him  in  his  cell.  "Well,  my  friend,"  he  said  to  him  kindly,  "you 
forgot,  did  you  not,  to  have  your  name  entered  for  the  Easter 
duties?"  "No,  sir,"  answered  the  young  prisoner  calmly;  "I  did 
not  forget,  .  .  .  but  I  have  not  decided;  I  am  not  prepared."  .  .  . 
"  Oh,  my  child,  that  is  nothing !  I  will  help  yon  to  prepare  yourself. 
It  is  the  simplest  thing  in  the  world.  Let  me  enter  your  name  with 
the  others  in  my  list.  I  will  make  it  my  care  to  see  that  you  per- 
fectly fulfil  your  duty."  "No,  sir,  no;  not  now;  another  time  per- 
haps.. Not  this  year;  next  year."  .  .  .  "What,  next  year?  But, 
my  poor  young  friend,  next  year  you  will  have  just  the  same  diffi- 
culties. Why  should  you  delay?  You  are  not  sure."  .  .  .  "Yes, 
yes;  T  will  do  my  Easter  duties  next  year;  this  year  I  cannot."  The 
chaplain  saw  it  would  be  useless  to  say  anything  more,  and  left  him, 
much  distressed  by  such  unhappy  stubbornness.  "Poor  young 
fellow,"  he  said  to  himself,  "he  refuses  the  only  comfort  that  is  left 
to  him  in  his  captivity.     If  he  only  knew  what  he  rejects !" 

The  next  morning  he  went  down,  according  to  his  usual  custom, 
to  the  cells  in  the  infirmary  to  see  another  young  prisoner,  who  was 


CHRISTIAN   LIFE   AND   CHRISTIAN   VIRTUES.  I7l 

Let  US  therefore  question  our  own  hearts,  and  search  our  own  con- 
sciences. Are  we  in  a  state  of  grace?  Since  our  last  confession  and 
our  last  communion,  have  we  served  God  well?  Have  we  prayed 
well?  Have  we  kept  the  Sundays  holy?  Have  we  observed  the 
commandments  of  God,  and  of  His  Church?  Have  we  not  fallen 
back  weakly  into  certain  serious  sins,  which  we  had  promised  our- 
selves for  the  future  to  avoid? 

If  you  only  perceive  a  little  dust,  only  a  little  human  weakness,  on 
the  white  robe  of  your  conscience,  thank  God  with  all  your  heart, 
and  renew  your  good  resolutions  to  be  ever  pure  and  faithful.  If, 
on  the  contrary,  the  holy  robe  of  innocence  is  torn  and  defiled,  like 
the  prodigal  son  in  the  Gospel :  call  all  your  courage  to  your  aid, 
rise,  and,  full  of  confidence  and  true  repentance,  return  unto  your 
Father:  go,  and  confess  your  sins;  go,  and  regain  the  white  robe, 
the  holy  robe  of  Christians,  and  then,  with  the  help  of  God,  strive 
never  again  to  abandon  that  best  and  noblest  state  of  life — the 
state  of  grace. 

CHRISTIAN  LIFE  AND  CHRISTIAN  VIRTUES, 

It  is  not  enough  to  do  the  right ;  it  is  also  necessary  to  do  the 
right  in  the  right  way.  In  order  to  be  a  good  Christian,  to  please 
God,  and  to  go  to  heaven,  an  outward  observance  of  the  Ten  Com- 
mandments of  God,  and  the  six  commandments  of  the  Church,  is  far 
from  sufficient ;  it  is  also  necessary  to  observe  them  with  certain  in- 
terior dispositions  which  we  call  the  Christian  spirit,  or  Christian 
virtue.  No  one  is  a  Christian  except  upon  this  condition.  The  out- 
ward observance  of  the  commandments  is  like  the  body  of  the  Chris- 
tian life :  the  Christian  spirit  is  the  soul  of  this  body.  A  body  with- 
out a  soul  is  only  a  corpse  and  not  a  man.  What,  then,  is  this 
Christian  spirit  without  which  no  one  can  be  truly  a  child  of  God? 
It  consists  of  certain  dispositions  or  qualities  which  are  called  Chris- 
tian virtues,  and  the  possession  of  which  renders  men  more  and  more 
like  to  Jesus  Christ.  Among  these  virtues  the  principal  and  most 
necessary  are : 

Humility,  which  consists  in  acknowledging  willingly  and  thank- 
fully that,  since  all  the  good  we  have  comes  from  God,  we  cannot 
glory  in  anything,  but  should  remember  constantly  that,  if  others 
seem  to  see  in  us  any  good  or  noble  qualities,  it  is  to  God  alone  that 
praise  and  honor  are  due.  For  this  reason,  a  man  who  is  truly 
humble  never  esteems  himself  above  others,  but  ever  distinguishes 


THE   COMMANDMENTS   OP   THE   CHURCH.  177 

could  in  any  way  tend  to  deprive  our  neighbor  of  that  which  lawfully 
belongs  to  him. 

The  eighth  commandment  forbids  all  false  testimony  and  lies.  We 
owe  the  truth  to  our  neighbor  just  as  we  owe  it  to  ourselves.  Lies 
that  could  injure  our  neighbors  are  the  most  serious  of  all.  This  sin 
is  called  calumny. 

The  ninth  commandment  forbids  all  sinful  desires  in  everything 
that  relates  to  purity ;  and  in  this  prohibition  it  goes  still  further 
than  the  sixth. 

Finally,  the  tenth  and  last  commandment  requires  from  us  such  a 
perfect  respect  for  justice,  that  even  a  single  unjust  desire  for  the 
possessions  of  another  should  be  banished  from  our  heart. 

Such  are  the  ten  great  commandments  which  sum  up  the  whole 
of  morality,  and  of  which  the  law  of  the  Gospel  is  but  the  perfect 
development.  "Keep  the  commandments,  and  you  shall  live,"  said 
our  divine  Master  to  us  all.     ^'■Hocfac,  et  vives." 

THE  COMMANDMENTS  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

Tn  a  previous  explanation  of  the  Credo  we  defined  the  Church  as 
tie  great  society  of  Christians,  governed  and  sanctified  by  Jesus 
Christ,  its  divine  Pastor,  and  by  the  Pope  and  the  Catholic  Bishops, 
the  visible  representatives  of  this  divine  head.  The  commandments 
of  the  Church  are  those  religious  laws  by  which  the  Church  is  gov- 
erned. The  lawful  pastors  of  the  Church  have  alone  the  right  to 
command  us  thus  in  the  name  of  God,  since  they  are  the  sole  inheri- 
tors of  the  ministry  of  St.  Peter  and  the  Apostles,  and  of  the  prom- 
ises of  Jesus  Christ. 

The  Pope  and  the  Bishops  are  men,  it  is  true,  but  they  are  men 
invested  with  the  divine  and  priestly  power  of  Jesus  Christ,  and 
therefore  it  is  nothing  but  want  of  a  right  apprehension  to  say,  as 
is  sometimes  said  by  those  who  consider  themselves  wonderfully  ad- 
/anced  and  enlightened :  "  I  am  quite  willing  to  obey  God,  but  cer- 
tainly not  men  like  myself." 

We  are  all  obliged,  under  pain  of  disobedience,  which  is  more  or 
less  serious  according  to  circumstances,  to  obey  unquestioningly  all 
the  laws  laid  down  for  us  by  the  Pope  and  the  Bishops  of  our  dio- 
cese. There  are,  however,  six  principal  laws,  which  we  are  accus- 
tomed to  regard  more  particularly  as  the  commandments  of  the 
Church.     These  six  regulate  the  sanctification  of  Sundays  and  holy 

days  of  obligation,  public    penance,  and  the  frequentation  of  the 
Vol.  II.— 13 


FAITH   AND   PATIENCE   IN   PRAYER.  186 

cation.  Lastly,  among  all  supplications,  properly  so-called,  there 
is  one  with  which  none  of  us  can  dispense,  and  that  is  the  supplica- 
tion we  offer  up  to  God  to  obtain  the  pardon  of  our  sins,  through  the 
merits  of  Jesus  Christ,  our  most  merciful  Saviour. 

It  is  therefore  necessary  to  pray,  to  think  often  of  God,  and  often 
to  express  the  love  and  reverence  with  which  our  hearts  are  filled. 
But  it  is  especially  needful  to  pray  in  the  morning  and  in  the  even- 
ing ;  at  the  commencement  of  the  day  which  God  has  given  us,  to 
consecrate  it  all  to  Him,  and  at  the  end  of  the  day,  to  thank  Jesus 
for  the  graces  He  has  given  us  during  the  course  of  it,  and  to  ask 
His  forgiveness  of  the  sins  we  have  perhaps  committed. 

And  let  us  never  forget  to  pray  when  we  are  tempted  to  do 
wrong;  prayer  at  such  a  time  resembles  the  shield  with  which  the 
warrior  arms  himself  in  order  to  resist  the  attacks  of  the  enemy. 
Lastly,  let  us  always  pray  with  attention  and  reverence,  with  confi- 
dence, humility,  and  perseverance.  He  who  prays  not  thus  prays 
badly,  and  is  not  heard  by  God.  When  we  are  reciting  prayers,  the 
rosary  for  instance,  let  us  be  very  careful  to  pray  with  the  spirit  of 
recollection,  with  the  heart  and  mind  ever  lifted  up  to  God,  and  not 
merely  with  the  movement  of  the  lips.  May  our  divine  Lord  and 
Saviour  grant  you  the  grace  of  prayer,  cause  you  to  love  it,  and  to 
find  the  practice  of  it  sweet  and  easy !  You  will  derive  from  it  the 
sanctification  of  your  life,  purity  of  heart,  the  secret  of  true  joy,  and 
the  only  consolation  in  sorrow ;  and,  with  the  help  of  prayer,  you 
will  become  a  true  servant  of  God. 

FAITH  AND  PATIENCE  EST  PRAYER. 

We  must  pray ;  it  is  the  command  of  God ;  it  is  the  clearly  ex- 
pressed will  of  Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  The  man  who  prays  saves  his 
soul;  he  who  does  not  pray  lives  without  God,  is  no  Christian,  and 
will  assuredly  be  lost. 

But  it  is  not  enough  to  pray ;  we  must  pray  with  faith  and  perse- 
verance. Sometimes  men  will  begin  to  pray ;  but  being  fully  per- 
suaded that  divine  things  are  governed  by  the  same  law  as  human 
things,  they  immediately  desire  to  find  the  answer  to  their  prayer 
close  within  their  reach.  Seeing  no  result,  they  imagine  that  their 
prayer  is  useless,  and  thus  fall  into  a  state  of  discouragement.  They 
do  not  know  that  prayer  is  an  act  of  faith,  and  requires  before  all 
things  that  men  should  believe  in  its  power,  even  when  they  perceive 
no  immediate  effects.     How  many  earnest  prayers,  fully  heard  by 


TO  FATHERS  AND  MOTHERS.  197 

rents  in  their  old  age,  and  who  thus  close  their  hearts  to  the  truest 
instincts  of  nature  as  well  as  to  the  teachings  of  religion ! 

Let  us  render,  therefore,  a  sacred  reverence,  a  religious  and  per- 
fect obedience,  an  unselfish  and  unbounded  love  to  those  to  whom  we 
are  united  by  this  holy  tie.  Such  is  the  law  of  God.  Let  us  never 
forget  to  pray  for  them  each  day,  so  that,  by  the  mercy  of  God,  we 
may  all  be  happily  reunited  in  heaven.  Our  father  and  mother  were 
the  instruments  by  which  God  created  us,  and  brought  us  into  this 
world ;  and  He  created  us  only  that  He  might  thus  bestow  upon  us 
an  eternal  happiness  hereafter.  It  is  there,  even  in  the  bosom  of  the 
eternal  Godhead,  that  our  heavenly  Father  desires  to  gather  the 
whole  family  tpgether,  when  the  labors  of  life  are  done ;  it  is  there 
that  He  desires  to  unite  us  to  those  who  have  gone  before  us ;  and  it 
is  there  that  He  desires  to  bestow  on  us  not  only  a  long  life,  but  an 
eternal  life — the  life  which  He  promises  to  those  who  keep  the  fourth 
commandment.  "Honor  thy  father  and  thy  mother,  that  thy  days 
may  be  long  in  the  land." 

TO  FATHERS  AND  MOTHERS. 

Fathers  and  mothers,  you  are  the  visible  divinities  of  your  chil- 
dren. They  see  none  greater  than  you,  they  see  none  so  often  as 
you,  they  love  no  one  so  much  as  you.  They  often  hear  of  God,  of 
the  Pope,  of  the  king,  but  they  do  not  see  them ;  while  tliey  have 
you  every  day  before  their  eyes  as  the  living  models  of  their  actions. 
You  are  everything  for  them.  The  life  which  they  have  derived 
from  you  they  preserve  only  by  your  care,  and  you  are  their  sole 
dependence  for  the  future.  Now,  a  child  has  much  of  the  monkey 
in  its  nature ;  it  imitates,  it  repeats  all  that  it  sees,  all  that  it  hears. 
This  is  especially  the  case  with  regard  to  its  father  and  mother.  Its 
great  ambition  is  to  imitate  them  in  all  they  do.  From  this  fact 
there  arises  for  fathers  and  mothers  a  binding  obligation  to  lead 
good  and  holy  lives  themselves,  that  their  children  may  thus  follow 
them  in  the  right  way. 

The  heart  of  a  child  is  as  wax,  capable  of  receiving  any  impres- 
sion, good  or  bad ;  it  is  as  plain  white  linen,  upon  which  all  colors 
may  be  stamped.  It  is  to  parents  that  God  has  intrusted  the  care  of 
impressing  on  these  young  pure  hearts  all  true  and  virtuous  feelings 
— those  first  impressions  which  are  never  completely  effaced.  If  they 
are  careful  to  inculcate  in  their  children  the  sentiment  of  duty,  the 
love  and  fear  of  God,  a  horror  of  sin,  and  the  necessity  of  religion, 


EARLY  EDUCATION.  19i» 

her  one  day  into  her  oratory,  and  kneeling  before  the  crucifix  prayed 
silently ;  then  turning  to  her  child,  who  was  kneeling  at  her  side,  she 
said,  "God  only  knows  how  much  I  love  you,  my  dear  little  one ; 
you  are  my  only  treasure  upon  earth,  and  the  only  pledge  of  his 
affection  that  your  father  left  to  me  when  dying;  but  if  I  believed 
it  possible  that  you  could  ever  abandon  Jesus  Christ,  or  lose  your  in- 
nocence, I  would  ask  God  to  take  you  to  Himself,  to  call  you  instantly 
out  of  this  world.  Very  far  from  weeping  for  you,  I  would  array 
myself  as  for  a  festival,  and  would  esteem  your  death  as  a  great  bless- 
ing and  favor  from  God." 

These  words  recall  those  spoken  by  Queen  Blanche  to  St.  Louis,  her 
son,  during  his  childhood:  "I  would  rather  see  you  die  before  my 
eyes,  than  see  you  commit  a  single  sin."  All  Christian  mothers 
should  constantly  repeat  them  to  their  children. 
•  There  are  fathers  and  mothers  who  lose,  and  there  are  those  who 
save  their  children.  Their  loss  or  ruin  will  be  their  own  loss,  while 
their  salvation  will  surely  prove  their  own  also. 

Like  father,  like  son;  and  still  more,  like  mother,  like  child.  If 
you  love  your  children,  fathers  and  mothers,  if  not  for  yourselves  at 
least  for  love  of  them,  be  good  Christians,  scrupulously  observe  the 
laws  of  God  and  of  His  Church ;  avoid  sin,  repress  your  passions, 
consider  your  words,  be  constant  in  prayer,  swear  not,  do  not  argue 
and  dispute,  guard  against  anger;  reverence  all  that  relates  to  God, 
His  ministers,  and  His  temple ;  so  live  that  your  child  may  need 
nothing  but  your  daily  example  to  guide  him  now  in  the  path  of 
right,  and  that  hereafter  the  memory  of  his  childhood  may  be  still  a 
pure  and  holy  influence  to  draw  him  nearer  heaven. 

EARLY  EDUCATION. 

The  bear's  cub,  when  first  brought  into  the  world,  is  merely  a 
shapeless  mass;  neither  head  nor  eyes  can  be  distinguished.  The 
father  and  mother,  impelled  by  the  instinct  God  has  given  them,  in- 
stantly begin  to  lick  their  young  one  vigorously,  and  thus  in  a  man- 
ner they  fashion  this  imperfect  body,  and  through  their  care  and 
patience,  little  by  little,  the  head,  the  eyes,  and  the  claws  of  the  cub 
appear,  and  it  begins  to  assume  its  natural  shape. 

If  parents  will  pardon  this  comparison,  we  would  propose  this  ex- 
ample to  them.  When  God  gives  them  a  child,  He  gives  them  at 
the  same  time  a  mission  to  fashion,  to  form  it  for  good,  and  to  make 
it  in  all  things  a  Christian  child.     With  b^ars,  it  is  the  tongue  that 


THE  SECOND  EDUCATION.  201 

education!  All  of  which  advice  we  offer  to  the  consideration  of 
parents  who  really  love  their  children,  and  truly  desire  to  promote 
their  happiness. 

THE  SECOND  EDUCATIOR 

The  duties  of  a  father  and  mother  with  regard  to  their  children 
increase  in  proportion  as  the  child  grows  older.  It  is  the  part  of  the 
parents  to  instil  into  the  heart  of  their  child  upright  principles  and 
Christian  feelings,  and  thus  to  form  or  build  up  his  future  character. 
A  good  mother  is,  if  not  the  first  confessor,  at  least  the  first  confi- 
dant of  the  budding  conscience  of  her  son  and  of  her  daughter;  and 
when  years  shall  render  this  ministry  of  affection  insufficient,  it  is 
still  the  mother's  part  to  initiate  the  child  to  a  still  more  solemn  con- 
fidence, and  to  prepare  it  with  love  and  tenderness  for  the  important 
duty  of  a  first  confession. 

All  truly  Christian  parents  should  most  carefully  guard  their 
child's  first  steps  in  life;  they  should  never  leave  him  to  venture 
alone,  without  help  or  guidance,  in  the  midst  of  innumerable  dan- 
gers which  he  must  meet  at  every  step;  they  should  carefully  choose 
his  friends  and  companions,  and  separate  him  from  any  who  would 
be  likely  to  do  him  harm — from  those  who  have  been  badly  brought 
up,  and  whose  words  and  ideas  might  instil  the  first  principles  of 
evil;  also,  as  a  general  rule,  from  all  who  belong  to  parents  of 
doubtful  reputation.  How  many  poor  children  are  first  initiated  in 
vice  and  lose  their  childlike  innocence  for  want  of  this  much-needed 
watchfulness!  Nine  out  of  ten  may  have  been  ruined  by  the  influ-. 
ence  of  bad  companions. 

At  twelve  or  thirteen  years  of  age,  after  the  first  communion, 
parents  should  redouble  their  care,  in  order  to  urge  their  child  to 
persevere  in  that  good  path  upon  which  he  has  now  entered.  For 
now  come  the  most  dangerous  and  perhaps  the  most  difficult  years 
of  life.  This  age  resembles  that  Cape  of  Storms  which  is  notable  for 
so  many  shipwrecks;  only  the  best-manned  and  best-directed  vessels 
escape  the  peril.  This  dangerous  age  of  early  youth,  so  charming 
when  it  is  pure  and  innocent,  so  disastrous  when  it  is  not,  should  en- 
gross the  entire  care  and  thought  of  every  good  father  and  mother. 
If  it  is  necessary  that  the  child  should  leave  his  own  home  and  go 
among  strangers,  before  all  things  it  is  needful  to  provide  for  the 
sacred  interests  of  the  soul,  and  to  place  him  amid  good  influences, 
and  among  such  surroundings  that  the  practice  of  religion,  far  from 


212  DRUNKENNESS. 

cess  of  depravity,  this  infamous  town  was  consumed  with  all  its  in- 
hahitants  by  a  miraculous  and  sulphurous  fire  which  enveloped  it  by 
the  command  of  God.  Reduced  to  ashes,  and  still  visible  in  the 
depths  of  the  Dead  Sea,  it  remains  forever  as  a  witness  of  divine 
vengeance,  as  a  warning  to  sinners,  as  an  earthly  manifestation  of 
the  punishment  of  impurity  by  eternal  fire,  and  lastly  as  the  most 
impressive  confirmation  of  the  sixth  commandment  of  God:  "Thou 
Shalt  not  commit  adultery." 

DRUNKENNESS. 

There  is  a  certain  fearful  malady  which  ravages  and  devastates 
the  whole  world.  There  is  no  country  free  from  its  inroads;  it  is  to 
be  met  with  in  France  as  in  England,  in  Europe  as  in  America, 
among  people  who  call  themselves  civilized  just  as  among  bar- 
barians. For  many  centuries  it  has  decimated  humanity,  and  has 
been  the  ruin  of  the  working  classes. 

You  will  think,  perhaps,  that  I  am  speaking  of  the  plague,  or  of 
cholera,  or  of  some  pestilence  of  this  description !  But  no,  the  sick- 
ness to  which  I  refer  is  much  more  to  be  dreaded  I  ...  It  is  a  far 
more  mortal  sickness ;  and  it  is  doubly  terrible,  because  it  does  not 
only  kill  the  body  but  even  destroys  the  soul,  and  its  lamentable  in- 
fluence extends  beyond  the  grave! 

It  is  called  drunkenness.  This  it  is  which  degrades  and  brutalizes 
the  miserable  man  who  once  jaelds  to  its  fatal  tyranny  I  It  is  this 
which  is  the  ruin  of  families,  and  which  is  thus  most  frequently  the 
cause  of  that  frightful  poverty  which  is  to  be  witnessed  in  large 
towns. 

Drunkenness  is  the  habit  of  drinking  immoderately.  Intoxication 
when  quite  involuntary  is  not  a  sin.  It  is  a  sin  more  or  less  grie- 
vous, as  it  is  more  or  less  wilful ;  and  also  according  to  the  extent 
of  the  excess.  It  is  always  a  grievous  fault  voluntarily  to  lose  the 
use  of  reason. 

"Be  not  deceived,"  say  the  Holy  Scriptures,  "drunkards  shall  not 
enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God." 

I.  Drunkenness  debases  and  degrades  a  man.  What  distinguishes 
men  from  brutes?  Is  not  reason  his  noblest  prerogative?  Now, 
what  does  the  drunkard  do?  How  does  he  use  his  intelligence? 
Does  he  not  reduce  himself  to  a  state  of  stupidity  in  which  he  knows 
no  longer  what  he  says  nor  what  he  does?  His  feet  tremble  beneath 
him,  his  eyes  grow  dim,  his  tongue  stammers  foolishly;  instead  of 


THEFT.  217 

an  old  coat,  from  a  poor  man  might  be  a  mortal  sin.  At  the  same 
time,  it  is  quite  certain  that,  however  great  the  fortune  of  the  person 
robbed,  to  steal  a  sum  of  four  or  five  shillings  would  be  committing 
a  mortal  sin. 

If  we  are  forbidden  to  steal  from  others,  we  are  equally  forbidden 
to  retain  stolen  property. 

If  you  perceive  that  you  have  in  your  possession  something  which 
belongs  to  me,  it  is  quite  clear  that  you  ought  to  restore  it  to  me, 
and  that  as  soon  as  possible.     This  is  simple  justice. 

To  make  restitution  is  to  restore  to  others  that  which  rightfully 
belongs  to  them. 

We  are  obliged  to  make  restitution  under  pain  of  mortal  sin,  in 
the  case  of  an  object  of  some  value.  No  one  is  obliged,  in  making 
restitution,  to  inform  against  themselves;  it  is  even  better  to  avoid 
it.  The  money  may  be  sent  anonymously,  or  placed  in  the  hands  of 
the  priest  or  some  person  of  confidence,  so  that  it  may  reach  its  des- 
tination safely  and  secretly.  If  it  is  impossible  to  restore  to  its  own- 
ers what  has  been  wrongfully  taken  from  them,  it  should  be  given 
to  the  poor,  or  employed  in  some  work  of  piety.  But  in  everything 
of  this  kind  there  is  always  one  practical  rule  to  give:  consult  your 
confessor,  and  do  exactly  what  he  tells  you. 

I  need  not  add  that  a  man  who  does  not  pay  his  debts  when  he  is 
able  to  pay  them  wrongs  his  neighbor  and  breaks  the  seventh  com- 
mandment. 

In  this,  as  in  everything  which  concerns  honor,  it  is  well  to  be  ex- 
cessively careful.  This  is  the  only  case  in  which  it  may  be  good  to 
be  scrupulous.  How  much  less  misery,  how  much  less  crime,  there 
would  be  in  the  world,  if  all  men  heard  and  faithfully  kept  the  sev- 
enth commandment. 

THEFT. 

Theft!  what  a  sinister  word!  It  causes  the  cheek  to  flush  with 
shame,  and  the  heart  to  swell  with  a  sense  of  indescribable  scorn 
and  indignation ! 

To  steal  is  to  take  voluntarily  something  that  belongs  to  another. 

To  take  the  property  of  another  by  mistake,  thinking  it  is  our 
own,  is  not  to  steal  but  only  to  deceive  one's  self.  The  most  honest 
people  might  make  such  a  mistake  as  this.  But  in  such  a  case  as 
this  there  is  this  difference  between  an  honest  man  and  a  thief;  a 
thief  would  keep  his  usurped  property,  while  an  honest  man  would 
restore  it  directly  he  discovered  his  error. 


226  FIRST  COMMANDMENT  OF  THE   CHURCH. 

your  souls.  For  My  yoke  is  sweet  and  My  burden  light."  She 
points  them  to  heaven,  to  an  eternal  joy,  an  unmingled  happiness, 
a  perfect  repose. 

Behold  what  awaits  you  if  you  are  faithful  during  your  probation, 
and  if,  following  the  example  of  your  Master,  you  bear  your  cross 
with  patience  day  by  day! 

Set  your  supreme  affections  on  the  things  above,  and  not  on  the 
things  of  earth ;  and  if  sometimes  the  prosperity  of  others  excite  you 
to  desire  what,  in  your  case,  God  has  been  pleased  to  withhold,  let 
these  desires  never  be  unjust ;  let  them  never  infringe  upon  the  tenth 
and  last  of  the  divine  commandments. 

THE  COMMANDMENTS  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

There  are  six  commandments  of  the  Church,  namely :  I.  To  rest 
from  servile  work,  and  to  hear  Mass  on  all  Sundays  and  Holy-days  of 
Obligation. 

II.  To  fast  and  abstain  on  the  days  commanded.  These  embrace 
Lent,  the  Ember  Days,  Fridays  in  Advent,  the  eves  of  certain  festi- 
vals ;  and  abstention  from  flesh-meat  on  Fridays  and  other  appointed 
days  of  abstinence. 

III.  To  confess  our  sins  at  least  once  a  year. 

IV.  To  receive  worthily  the  Blessed  Eucharist  at  Easter  or  within 
the  time  appointed. 

V.  To  contribute  to  the  support  of  our  pastors. 

VI.  Not  to  marry  within  forbidden  degrees  of  kindred,  nor  to 
solemnize  marriage  within  forbidden  times. 

These  commandments  are  obligatory  on  all  Catholics,  as  the 
Church  has  power  from  her  Founder,  Jesus  Christ,  to  give  command- 
ments. He  having  empowered  her  to  guide  and  govern  the  faithful 
in  His  name.  Having  their  origin  in  Christ,  therefore,  they  bind  all 
Catholics  to  submission  and  fidelity. 

FIRST  COMMANDMENT  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

To  rest  from  servile  work,  and  to  hear  Mass  on  all  Sundays  and 
Holy-days  of  Obligation. 

Besides  the  fifty-two  Sundays  of  the  year,  the  Church  commands 
us,  in  the  name  of  Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  to  sanctify  certain  days 
which  we  call  Feasts,  and  which  are  intended  to  recall  to  the  memory 
of  Christians  the  principal  mysteries  in  the  life  of  the  Saviour  and  of 


230  LENT. 


LENT. 


Ah!  this  is  quite  a  melancholy  subject,  and  you  would  prefer  that 
it  should  not  he  forced  upon  your  attention.  It  is  unpleasant  enough 
when  Lent  comes,  and  in  the  mean  time  the  less  said  about  it  the 
better.  Ever  unwelcome  is  this  holy  season,  and  all,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  a  few  fervent  Christians,  appear  to  regard  the  forty  days 
with  a  feeling  of  vexation  which  almost  amounts  to  resentment. 

But  with  our  forefathers  it  was  not  so.  Full  of  faith,  they  drew 
from  their  firm  belief  powerful  motives  for  energy,  perseverance,  and 
good  will.  They  rightly  estimated  duty;  they  recognized  its  gran- 
deur; and  they  placed  the  sacred  laws  of  God  and  of  His  Church  far 
above  the  vain  pretexts  to  which  our  self-indulgence  so  often  sacrifices 
them. 

Our  forefathers  observed  in  every  detail  the  commands  of  the 
Church  with  regard  to  fasting  and  abstinence ;  every  one  abstained 
on  Fridays  and  Saturdays.  Men  did  not  study  themselves  and 
pamper  themselves  as  they  do  now ;  this  may  be  proved  by  the  fact 
that  at  Paris  in  the  fifteenth  century,  in  spite  of  a  population  of 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  inhabitants,  only  one  butcher  sold  meat 
during  Lent,  and  supplied  all  that  was  required  by  killing  a  single 
ox  a  day.  They  fasted  the  whole  of  Lent,  and  no  one  died  from 
the  effects.  Neither  did  they  suffer,  for  populations  were  far  more 
flourishing,  and  men  taller  and  stronger  than  now.  "But  can  it  be," 
you  say,  "that  God  reqTiires  bodily  mortification  instead  of  heartfelt 
repentance?"  To  which  we  answer  simply  that  God  requires  both, 
because  heartfelt  repentance  is  ever  united  to  bodily  mortification. 
The  soul  influences  the  body,  and  the  body  reacts  upon  the  soul,  be- 
cause of  their  intimate  union ;  a  body  that  is  indulged  will  sooner  or 
later  impart  its  own  feebleness  to  the  soul,  its  constant  companion ; 
and  a  soul  pure  and  upright,  and  victorious  over  its  passions,  will 
necessarily  hold  the  soul  in  perfect  discipline  and  subjection.  The 
body,  from  the  fatal  results  of  original  sin,  is  in  constant  rebellion 
against  the  soul ;  and  the  soul  must  therefore  treat  it  almost  as  an 
enemy,  and  be  ever  on  its  guard  against  it,  in  order  to  insure  its 
own  independence,  its  fidelity  to  God,  and  its  eternal  salvation. 

"But  why  should  such  a  disagreeable  means  of  doing  penance  be 
chosen?"  And  Why  should  it  not  be  chosen?  The  Church  has  chosen 
it — 1st.  Because  it  is  sufficiently  disagreeable  to  constitute  a  penance, 
and  not  too  hard  to  be  practised  by  all  Christians.     2d.  Out  of  rever* 


232   THE  THIRD  AND  FOURTH  COMMANDMENTS  OF  THE  CHURCH. 


THE  THIRD  AND   FOURTH   COMMANDMENTS 
OF  THE  CHURCH. 

Third  Commandment  of  the  Church. — To  confess  our  sins  at 
least  once  a  year. 

Fourth  Commandment  op  the  Church. — To  receive  worthily  the 
Blessed  Eucharist  at  Easter,  or  within  the  time  appointed. 

Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  instituted  confession  in  order  to  make  re- 
pentance easier  for  our  weak  human  nature,  and  to  assure  us  of  the 
pardon  of  our  sins.  He  laid  down  no  rule  as  to  the  times  and  seasons 
at  which  sinners  might  have  recourse  to  this  sacrament  of  mercy;  it 
was  to  be  an  ever-open  and  inexhaustible  source  from  which  we 
might  incessantly  obtain  not  only  pardon,  but  peace  of  heart  and 
purity  of  conscience. 

In  the  first  century  of  the  Church,  Christians  had  recourse  to  the 
sacrament  of  penance  only  when  they  had  committed  some  serious 
fault,  and  not  at  fixed  and  periodical  times.  The  early  Christians 
had  few  grievous  falls  with  which  to  reproach  themselves:  they 
prayed  constantly,  kept  the  days  of  fasting  and  abstinence  and  all 
holy  vigils  with  the  utmost  care  and  devotion,  meditated  incessantly 
on  the  Word  of  God,  and  went  to  Communion  every  day.  It  may 
be  easily  understood  that,  to  those  who  lived  such  lives,  confession 
was  not  as  necessary  as  to  the  tepid  Christians  of  the  present  day. 

But,  when  the  barbarous  nations  in  great  numbers  received  the 
light  of  faith,  certain  negligences  gradually  crept  into  the  practices 
of  religion,  resulting  from  the  ignorance  of  these  new  children  of  the 
Church,  and  from  the  uncultured  condition  of  their  consciences. 
This  reached  to  such  an  extent  that,  in  some  countries,  the  service 
of  God  was  so  greatly  neglected  that  people  lived  almost  without  the 
sacraments,  or  at  least  allowed  long  periods  of  time  to  pass  without 
receiving  them.  In  order  to  remedy  this  abuse.  Pope  Innocent  III., 
at  the  General  Lateran  Council,  held  at  Eome  in  J216,  decreed  that 
henceforth  all  Christians  having  reached  the  age  of  reason  should  be 
bound,  under  pain  of  mortal  sin,  of  grave  disobedience,  and  excom- 
munication, to  present  themselves  to  the  priest  and  confess  their  sins 
at  least  once  a  year.  Those  who  should  dare  to  disobey  this  com- 
mandment should  be  excluded  from  the  great  Catholic  family,  de- 
prived of  the  public  prayers  and  of  permission  to  assist  at  the  sacred 
offices  of  the  Church,  and,  finally,  if  they  persevered  in  this  state 
until  death,  should  be  denied  Christian  burial.     The  Lateran  Council 


234  THE  EASTER  COMMUNIOK. 

US  that  life  of  grace  which  is  the  saoctifying  union  of  our  souls  with 
our  Creator  and  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ.  Every  Christian  who 
seriously  desires  to  labor  for  his  own  eternal  salvation  approaches 
often  to  the  Holy  Communion,  not  only  to  obey  the  command  of  the 
Church,  but  to  co-operate  in  the  merciful  designs  of  God,  who  gives 
Himself  to  us  in  the  Blessed  Sacrament,  and  sustains  us  thus  in 
Christian  holiness  throughout  our  earthly  pilgrimage. 

The  time  assigned  for  the  Easter  Communion  in  the  United  States 
extends  from  the  first  Sunday  after  Ash- Wednesday  to  Trinity  Sun^ 
day,  unless  it  be  otherwise  ordered.  At  what  age  children  should  go 
to  Confession  and  Communion  must  be  left  to  the  decision  of  their 
pastors.  It  is  recommended,  as  a  rule,  to  go  to  Confession,  and, 
with  the  permission  of  the  pastor,  to  Holy  Communion  at  least  once 
a  month. 

THE  EASTER  COMMUNION. 

We  shall  not  speak  here  of  the  real  presence  of  Our  Lord  in  the 
Holy  Eucharist.  We  have  already  discussed  this  great  subject. 
But  if  ever  a  doubt  with  regard  to  it  should  arise  in  our  minds,  let 
it  be  sufBcient  for  us  to  remember  that  the  Son  of  God  Himself  has 
said,  "He  who  believeth  in  Me  hath  everlasting  life."  "Take  and 
eat;  this  is  My  body.  Drink  ye  all  of  this;  this  is  My  blood." 
These  words  alone  are  sufficient  to  disperse  every  shadow  of  doubt. 
But  why  does  Jesus  Christ  come  thus  in  the  Holy  Eucharist?  Why 
does  He  descend  upon  our  altars?  Why  does  He  travel  thus  divinely 
from  heaven  to  earth?  For  one  reason  only.  The  Son  of  God,  Our 
Saviour,  comes  to  take  possession  of  a  sanctuary — of  a  temple,  a 
thousand  times  more  beautiful,  a  thousand  times  more  worthy  of 
Him,  than  the  Temple  at  Jerusalem.  And  what  can  this  temple  be? 
It  is  your  heart — your  soul.  Such  is  the  temple  that  God  has  chosen. 
It  is  there  He  desires  to  descend ;  it  is  there  that  He  loves  to  re- 
pose. What  value  after  all,  in  His  most  holy  sight,  have  those 
tabernacles  and  sacred  vases  in  which  He  is  sheltered  by  our  faith 
and  love?  He  is  the  living  God;  and  these  temples,  these  ciboriums, 
these  altars — what  are  they  but  metal  and  stone?  What  He  desires 
is  a  temple,  living  even  as  He  lives,  capable  of  being  enlightened 
with  His  light,  which  is  the  spiritual  and  invisible  light  of  truth, 
capable  of  being  enkindled  with  the  sacred  flame,  which  is  no  visible 
fire,  but  the  spiritual  and  immaterial  fire  of  love.  Such  are  the 
worshippers  that  God  desires,  worshippers  in  spirit  and  in  truth,  as 
He  has  said  in  the  holy  Gospel ;  therefore  reasonable  creatures,  capa- 


236  THE  ENIGMA  OF  LIFE. 

renew  the  crime  of  Judas,  and  to  provoke  the  malediction  of  the 
sacrilegious. 

Therefore  go  to  communion,  but  communicate  well.  You  are 
placed  between  three  alternatives:  1st,  to  make  a  good  communion; 
2d,  to  make  a  bad  communion ;  3d,  not  to  go  to  communion  at  all. 

And  to  make  a  bad  communion  is  almost  the  same  as  not  to  com- 
municate at  all,  for  it  is  to  kill  the  soul.  To  die  because  we  do  not 
eat  is  almost  the  same  thing  as  to  die  because  we  have  swallowed 
poison.     The  result  is  the  same — death. 

Of  these  three  roads  two  lead  to  hell,  one  only  leads  to  heaven. 
Therefore  choose.  Communicate  at  Easter ;  but,  in  order  rightly  to 
fufill  this  great  and  holy  duty,  prepare  yourself  by  prayer,  by  spiri- 
tual reading,  and  by  good  works,  as  far  as  you  are  able.  Go  to  con- 
fession some  time  before,  especially  if  you  are  of  the  number  of  those 
who  have  delayed.  Do  all  you  can,  and  God  will  supply  the  rest. 
"Peace  to  men  of  good  will." 

When  you  leave  the  holy  altar  after  having  fulfilled  your  Chris- 
tian duty  you  will  be  perfectly  happy,  and  your  soul  will  be  at  peace ! 
"  Oh '  if  I  had  only  known  how  simple  it  was,  and  how  happy  it 
makes  you,"  said  a  poor  workman  who  had  stayed  away  from  the 
sacraments  for  twenty-nine  years,  "I  would  never  have  waited  so 
long." 

THE  FIFTH  AND  SIXTH  COMMANDMENTS 
OF  THE  CHURCH. 

By  the  Fifth  Commandment  the  Church  obliges  us  to  contribute 
willingly,  according  to  our  means,  to  the  support  of  our  pastors, 
churches,  Catholic  schools,  and  religious  institutions. 

The  Sixth  Commandment  prohibits  marriage  within  the  for- 
bidden degree  of  kindred,  or  to  solemnize  marriage  with  those  hav- 
ing canonical  impediments,  with  Protestants,  or  within  the  forbidden 
times.  {TJiis  commandment  is  fully  explained  under  the  "  Sacra- 
ment of  Matrimony, "  page  139.) 

THE  ENIGMA  OF  LIFE. 

There  is  a  very  strange  thing  in  this  world,  or  rather  the  world 
itself  is  a  very  strange  thing.  On  the  one  hand  we  are  certain,  abso- 
lutely certain,  that  God  is  infinitely  good,  infinitely  wise,  and  in- 
finitely powerful;  it  is  no  less  certain  that  it  is  He  who  created  the 


HUMILITY.  255 

faithful  practice  of  religion.  Experience  teaches  us  that  we  are  never 
so  charitable  to  others  as  when  we  are  faithfully  serving  God.  In 
this  as  in  everything,  religion  shows  herself  sole  mistress  of  the  hap- 
piness of  men ;  and  if  life  is  hard  and  bitter,  it  is  because  they  reject 
and  will  not  listen  to  her  gentle  voice. 

HUMILITY. 

In  one  of  the  most  divine  passages  of  the  divine  Gospel,  Our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  declares  that  Christian  perfection  consists  in  under- 
standing and  practising  two  words:  humility  and  meekness. 
"Come  to  me,"  He  says  to  us,  "all  you  that  labor  and  are  burdened, 
and  I  will  refresh  you.  Take  up  my  yoke  upon  you,  and  learn  of 
me,  because  I  am  meek  and  humble  of  heart :  and  you  shall  find  rest 
to  your  souls.     For  my  yoke  is  sweet  and  my  burden  light." 

What,  therefore,  is  humility,  and  what  is  meekness?  Two  excel- 
lent subjects  for  meditation. 

Humility  is  a  Christian  virtue,  which  enables  us  to  perceive  our 
own  misery  and  nothingness,  and  to  render  to  God  the  glory  and 
honor  of  all  the  good  we  do;  it  subdues  our  foolish  pride,  and  teaches 
us  never  to  exalt  ourselves  or  to  despise  others. 

Humility  is  a  virtue,  that  is  to  say,  a  victory  and  a  strength. 
We  are  all  inclined,  by  reason  of  original  sin,  to  pride,  vanity,  and 
vainglory.  In  order  to  repress  this  evil  tendency,  we  need  strength, 
and  must  ever  wage  a  constant  and  untiring  combat.  This  strength 
is  no  other  than  the  virtue  of  humility. 

Humility  is  a  Christian  virtue.  The  strength  which  is  bestowed 
on  us  in  order  to  subdue  our  pride  comes  to  us  from  Jesus  Christ, 
the  only  source  of  every  grace.  By  baptism  Jesus  Our  Saviour  es- 
tablished Himself  in  our  soul  as  a  king  in  His  kingdom,  as  a  master 
in  His  house;  and  He  imparts  to  us  the  spirit  of  holiness  to  commu- 
nicate to  us  all  His  virtues,  and,  among  others,  His  most  holy  and 
most  perfect  humility.  Jesus  Christ  is,  therefore,  the  first  principle 
of  the  humility  of  His  disciples;  and  the  Holy  Spirit,  who  unites  us 
to  Our  Saviour  that  we  may  be  like  unto  Him,  is  the  inexhaustible 
source  of  humility.  By  the  sacrament  of  confirmation  this  divine 
Spirit  communicates  to  us  all  the  strength  of  Jesus,  and  thus  be- 
stows on  us  the  most  powerful  means  of  triumphing  over  every  vice, 
and  especially  over  pride.  This  strength  is  nourished  and  increased 
by  the  Holy  Eucharist  and  by  constant  prayer,  and  by  these  means 
alone  can  we  possess  the  secret  of  perseverance  in  Christian  humility. 


^FOURTH     PART^ 


THE  SIGN  OF  THE  CROSS. 

In  all  the  works  of  God  there  is  nothing  that  is  worthless  or  insig- 
nificant. The  smallest  flower,  a  grain  of  dust,  the  tiniest  insect, 
each  and  all  reveal  the  wisdom,  the  omnipotence,  the  infinite  great- 
ness of  their  Creator,  as  clearly  as  the  sun  itself  and  all  the  glories 
of  the  starlit  heavens. 

And  thus  it  is  with  the  Christian  religion ;  it  has  come  forth,  like 
the  great  world  of  nature,  from  the  hands  of  God  Himself;  or,  rather, 
it  is  that  manifestation,  that  revelation,  which  God  has  made  of 
Himself  to  the  reasonable  creatures  whom  He  has  deigned  to  create. 
And  therefore  we  may  discover,  even  in  the  smallest  details  of  the 
faith  we  hold,  a  depth  and  beauty  no  less  wonderful  than  the  loveli- 
ness of  nature;  and  in  contemplating  both  we  may  truly  exclaim, 
God  alone  could  work  such  wonders ;  the  finger  of  God  is  there !  Let 
us  take,  for  example,  the  sign  of  the  Cross,  that  simple  religious  act 
which  is  so  universal  and  so  frequently  practised  during  the  course 
of  the  day.  We  all  make  this  holy  sign,  but  how  many  of  us  give 
any  thought  to  the  mysteries  it  signifies !  It  is  thus  that  the  ox  and 
the  horse  browse  on  the  sweet  flowers  hidden  in  the  meadow  grass, 
unconscious  that  they  are  there. 

From  want  of  reflection,  we  fail  to  attach  to  the  sign  of  the  Cross 
the  importance  that  it  merits.  It  was  first  instituted  by  the  Apos- 
tles themselves,  who,  invested  with  the  authority  of  Jesus  Christ, 
taught  this  religious  practice  to  the  first  disciples  of  the  Gospel. 

The  sign  of  the  Cross  is  the  sign  of  the  Christian,  that  is  to  say,  it 
is  the  outward  sign  which  distinguishes  the  Christian  from  other 
men.     And  why  is  this? 

1st.  Because  it  recalls  to  him  who  makes  it,  and  to  those  who  see 
it  made,  that  Jesus  Christ  is  the  God  of  Christians  and  the  Lord  of 
their  whole  lives.  Because  it  reminds  us  that  God  has  loved  us  so 
much  as  to  give  Himself  up  for  our  sakes  to  suffer  on  the  Cross,  and 
that  we  must  love  Him  with  our  whole  hearts.  It  places  incessantly 
before  our  eyes  Jesus  Christ  crucified ;  and  Jesus  crucified  is  the  di- 


278  THE  ROSARY. 

Pardon  follows  the  humble  confession  of  our  sins,  and  the  Church, 
who  knows  the  loving  mercy  of  God,  teaches  us  to  say,  "  May  Al- 
mighty God  have  mercy  on  us,  and  forgive  us  our  sins,  and  bring  us 
to  everlasting  life!  May  the  almighty  and  merciful  God  grant  us 
pardon,  absolution,  and  remission  of  our  sins!     Amen." 

Every  Christian  should  know  the  Confiteor  in  Latin  as  well  as  in 
English.  When  he  commits  any  sin  he  may  recite  it  with  much 
fruit,  and  he  should  never  omit  it  from  his  morning  and  evening 
prayers. 

THE  ROSARY. 

It  was  an  ancient  custom  in  the  East  to  offer  crowns  of  roses  to 
distinguished  persons,  and  the  early  Christians  loved  to  honor  in  this 
way  the  images  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  and  the  relics  of  the  martyrs. 

An  illustrious  bishop,  St.  Gregory  of  Naziazum,  full  of  devotion 
toward  the  Mother  of  God,  was  inspired  to  substitute  for  the  ma- 
terial crown  of  roses  a  spiritual  crown  of  prayers,  persuaded  that  it 
would  be  more  acceptable  to  the  Blessed  Queen  of  the  Church.  With 
this  idea  he  composed  a  long  series  or  crown  of  prayers,  which  com- 
prehended the  most  glorious  titles,  the  sweetest  praises,  and  the  most 
excellent  prerogatives  of  Mary.  In  the  seventh  century  St.  Bridget, 
one  of  the  patron  Saints  of  Ireland,  brought  this  pious  thought  to  a 
greater  perfection.  She  made  the  devotion  introduced  by  St.  Greg- 
ory available  to  all  by  substituting  for  the  beautiful  prayers  he  had 
composed  the  most  popular  and  still  more  beautiful  prayers  of  the 
Creed,  the  Our  Father,  and  the  Hail  Mary.  And  in  order  to  know 
by  some  material  indication  how  many  prayers  had  been  recited,  she 
adopted  the  custom  of  the  Anchorites  of  Thebaid,  and  threaded  beads 
of  wood  or  stone  in  the  form  of  a  crown.  Eosary  signifies  crown  of 
roses ;  and  the  prayers  we  daily  recite  form  a  wreath  of  spiritual 
roses  with  which  in  love  we  crown  our  Mother  and  our  Queen. 

The  word  chaplet  means  little  crown.  The  Eosary  of  the  Blessed 
Virgin  is  composed  of  five  decades,  each  of  which  consists  of  ten  Hail 
Marys,  preceded  by  one  Our  Father.  St.  Dominic,  one  of  the  great- 
est Saints  of  Christianity,  and  one  of  the  most  devoted  servants  of 
the  Blessed  Virgin,  was  specially  instructed  in  this  devotion  by  the 
Mother  of  God  herself. 

In  saying  the  Eosary  we  repeat  the  Hail  Mary  more  often  than 
the  Our  Father,  not,  as  has  been  said,  because  we  honor  the  Blessed 
Virgin  more  than  God,  but  because,  being  a  devotion  instituted  in 
her  honor,  it  is  quite  natural  that  the  prayers  it  contains  should  be 


280  THE  MASS. 

administered  the  last  sacraments.  Not  knowing  to  what  his  conver« 
sion  was  to  be  attributed,  he  questioned  him  as  to  the  cause. 
"Father,"  he  answered,  "I  can  only  attribute  this  grace  to  the 
fervor  of  your  prayers  and  to  those  of  my  dear  mother.  When  she 
was  dying,  she  called  me,  and,  speaking  to  me  of  the  dangers  by 
which  my  youth  would  be  surrounded,  she  said,  'My  only  consola- 
tion, my  son,  is  that  I  leave  you  under  the  protection  of  the  Blessed 
Virgin ;  promise  me  to  say  the  Eosary  every  day. '  I  promised,  and 
I  acknowledge  that  for  ten  years  this  has  been  the  only  religious  act 
which  I  have  practised."  On  hearing  this  the  confessor  recognized 
the  visible  protection  of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  which  was  clearly  mani- 
fested in  this  most  consoling  death-bed,  nor  ceased  until  the  sick  man 
had  breathed  his  last  sigh. 

THE  MASS. 

Of  all  the  points  of  Christian  doctrine  there  is  perhaps  not  one 
which  it  is  more  necessary  to  know,  yet  of  which  many  are  more 
ignorant,  than  that  of  which  we  must  now  speak.  The  practice  of 
it  is  so  frequent,  and  the  fruits  to  be  drawn  from  it  are,  if  rightly 
appreciated,  so  abundant,  that  it  may  be  called  the  soul  of  Christian- 
ity, the  centre  and  abridgement  of  the  Christian  faith. 

I  mean  the  Mass. 

The  Mass  is  not  a  prayer  like  other  prayers.  Some  think  that 
vespers  or  some  other  devotion  may  well  fill  the  place  of  Mass,  but 
this  is  a  great  error ;  the  service  of  vespers  forms  a  very  excellent 
religious  exercise,  but  vespers  are  only  prayers.  The  Mass  is  indeed 
a  prayer,  but  it  is  something  higher  still ;  it  is  a  sacrifice,  and  what 
a  sacrifice !  A  sacrifice  in  which  God  renders  Himself  present  to  His 
people !  A  sacrifice  in  which  God  Himself  descends  upon  the  altar 
as  the  victim ! 

A  sacrifice  is  the  most  holy  act  in  the  worship  of  the  one  true  God ; 
it  is  an  offering  made  to  God  of  the  life  of  a  victim,  as  an  acknowl- 
edgment that  He  is  the  sovereign  Lord  of  every  creature  He  has 
made.  The  more  excellent  the  victim  the  more  acceptable  the  sac- 
rifice, since  it  draws  its  value  from  the  victim  which  is  immolated. 

Let  us  judge  from  this  the  infinite  holiness  of  the  sacrifice  of  the 
Cross,  in  which  Jesus  Christ,  the  Eternal  Son  of  the  living  God,  the 
Second  Person  of  the  Adorable  Trinity  made  man,  offered  His  own 
life  to  God  His  Father,  to  render  Him  a  homage  that  is  worthy  of 
Him,  that  is  to  say,  infinite,  and  to  atone  by  an  expiation  equally 


2&2  THE  CEREMONIES  OP  THE  CHTJROH. 

Nothing  could  be  more  solemn  than  all  of  these  ceremonies.  The 
greater  part  come  down  to  us  from  the  earliest  ages. 

In  the  first  and  second  centuries,  the  sacred  mysteries  commenced, 
as  now,  by  the  singing  of  psalms  and  by  prayers,  which  the  priest 
recited  aloud,  and  to  which  the  faithful  answered  Amen.  On  the 
altar,  which  was  usually  raised  above  the  relics  of  some  martyr, 
were  placed  candles  or  lighted  lamps.  Incense  was  burned.  The 
priest  turned  to  the  faithful  then,  as  now,  with  the  Dominus  vohis- 
cum.  Then  they  read  the  letters  (or  epistles)  of  the  Apostles  or  some 
passage  by  the  Prophets  of  the  Old  Testament.  Every  one  stood 
during  the  reading  of  the  Gospel,  which  the  priest  or  celebrant  bishop 
explained  in  a  homily  or  exhortation.  After  this  the  Credo  was  re- 
cited, and  next  the  bread,  wine,  wax,  and  oil  necessary  for  the  sac- 
rifice and  worship  were  offered  to  the  priest.  Before  the  consecration 
of  the  Host  and  of  the  Chalice,  the  priest  sang  the  prayer  called  the 
Preface  (viz.,  the  prayer  which  precedes) ;  and  a  little  after  the  con- 
secration the  Pater,  absolutely  the  same  as  in  our  own  days.  Before 
Communion  the  kiss  of  peace  was  given ;  then  followed  a  thanks- 
giving; the  priest  gave  the  benediction  with  the  sign  of  the  Cross, 
and  the  communicants  retired  from  the  altar  bearing  in  their  hearts 
their  Lord  and  their  God.  It  is  a  great  mistake  to  pretend  that  the 
Mass  is  a  modern  institution.  It  was  Our  Lord  Himself  who  first 
offered  the  sacrifice  of  the  Eucharist  on  Holy  Thursday  at  the  Last 
Supper,  when  His  Passion  was  about  to  begin.  And  from  that  time 
apostles,  bishops,  and  priests  have  said  Mass  everywhere  and  always. 

Christians  are  obliged  to  hear  Mass  on  Sundays  and  Feasts  of 
obligation,  and  no  one  who  is  able  to  do  so  on  the  week-days  should 
fail  to  fulfil  this  most  important  duty.  No  other  religious  practice 
can  be  compared  to  this.  How  many  might  find  time  to  go  each 
morning  to  receive  the  benediction  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  yet  deprive 
themselves,  from  negligence,  of  graces  which  would  render  the  day 
that  followed  holy  and  happy,  and  would  sanctify  their  lives! 

THE  CEREMONffiS  OF  THE  CHURCH, 

In  all  times  religion  has  made  use  of  outward  ceremonies  through 
which  to  express  by  visible  signs  those  sentiments  of  adoration, 
thanksgiving,  and  praise  which  spring  up  beneath  her  holy  influence 
in  the  heart  of  man  brought  face  to  face  with  his  Creator. 

When  these  feelings  cease  to  be  concentrated  in  the  depths  of  the 
heart,  when  they  find  outward  utterance  and  become  visible  to  the 


^86  THE  ALTARS  AND  SACRED  VESSELS. 

who  are  already  in  heaven,  of  Christians  still  fighting  upon  earth, 
and  of  the  holy  souls  who  are  awaiting  their  deliverance  in  purga- 
tory; 80  the  material  churches  are  composed  of  the  choir,  where  we 
may  see  in  the  priests  (as  we  shall  presently  explain)  a  figure  of  the 
Saints  and  Angels;  of  the  nave,  filled  by  the  faithful  servants  and 
soldiers  of  Jesus  Christ;  and  lastly  of  the  churchyards,  where  the 
bodies  of  departed  Christians  repose,  and  which  should  be,  in  accord- 
ance with  the  true  spirit  of  the  liturgy,  under  the  pavement  of  the 
temples,  or  at  least  within  the  shadow  of  their  walls. 

There  exists  one  other  striking  resemblance  between  the  living 
Church  and  the  buildings  in  which  we  worship  God.  For  even  as  in 
the  first  Jesus  Christ,  the  only  Son  of  God,  is  the  centre  and  prin- 
ciple of  all  the  glory  of  the  Saints  and  Angels  in  heaven,  of  the  holi- 
ness of  Christians  upon  earth,  of  the  hope  of  the  souls  in  purgatory; 
so  in  our  churches  all  Catholic  worship  and  Catholic  devotion  centres 
round  the  Blessed  Sacrament,  where  the  same  Jesus  ever  dwells, 
present  in  His  own  divine  Person  on  our  altars,  to  be  the  one  sacred 
object  of  our  adoration  and  our  Mediator  with  God. 

Churches  are  usually  surmounted  by  a  high  spire,  at  the  summit 
of  which  shines  the  Cross,  the  holy  symbol  of  Christianity.  Some- 
times we  see  the  image  of  a  cock,  signifying  the  vigilance  with  which 
God  should  be  served.  In  the  steeple  are  the  bells  which,  with  their 
soft  chimes,  summon  the  faithful  to  prayer.  For  fourteen  centuries 
bells  have  been  used  in  the  Christian  Church.  This  custom  was 
established  by  St.  Paulinus,  a  holy  bishop  of  Nole  in  Italy.  Until 
that  time  Christians  had  been  summoned  to  their  meetings  by  less 
convenient  and  less  efficacious  means,  such  as  trumpets,  rattles,  and 
even  the  human  voice. 

It  is  said  that  bells  are  baptized,  but  that  means  simply  blessed, 
so  as  to  set  them  apart  for  their  holy  use. 

We  might  give  many  more  interesting  details  with  regard  to  the 
form  and  exterior  of  our  churches,  but  we  only  desire  to  call  the  at- 
tention of  the  reader  to  the  most  essential  points. 

THE  ALTARS  AND  SACRED  VESSELS. 

The  h^Hest  part  of  the  church  is  the  altar,  where  the  sacrifice  of 
the  Mass  is  celebrated.  The  altar  is  so  called  from  the  Latin  word 
alius,  high,  because  it  ought  to  be  raised  by  three  steps,  or  at  least 
by  one,  above  the  pavement  of  the  church.  This  elevation  of  the 
altars  signifies  the  holiness  of  the  sacrifices  and   prayers  which, 


288      EXPLANATION  OF  THE  CEREMONIES  OP  THB  MASS. 

bol  of  charity ;  and  silver,  from  its  whiteness,  is  the  symbol  of  in* 
nocence  and  purity. 

Besides  the  three  altar  cloths  of  which  we  have  spoken,  and  which 
a  bishop  only  has  the  right  to  bless,  many  other  sacred  linen  cloths 
are  used  for  the  celebration  of  the  Mass.  The  most  worthy  of  ven- 
eration is  the  corporal,  so  called  from  the  Latin  corpus,  because  the 
Sacred  Body  of  Jesus  Christ  rests  immediately  upon  it  during  the 
Holy  Sacrifice.  In  the  tabernacle  there  is  always  a  corporal  under 
the  ciborium,  and  also  under  the  monstrance  in  Benediction.  The 
linen  cloth  placed  over  the  chalice,  and  intended  to  wipe  it  and  to 
purify  it,  is  called  a  purificator.  Only  ecclesiastics  are  permitted  to 
touch  these  sacred  vessels  and  corporals,  because  of  the  reverence 
which  must  be  paid  to  everything  connected  with  the  Holy  Eucharist 

EXPLANATION  OF  THE  CEREMONIES  OF 
THE  MASS. 

^  The  Sacred  Vestments. 

In  the  early  ages  of  Christianity  bishops  and  priests,  when  celebrat- 
ing divine  worship,  did  not  wear  vestments  of  a  different  shape  from 
the  dress  which  was  commonly  worn.  But  it  is  certain  that  even  in 
the  time  of  the  Apostles  very  rich  materials,  often  embroidered  in 
gold  and  silver,  were  worn  at  the  altar  in  order  to  add  to  the  majesty 
of  the  sacred  mysteries. 

When  the  Church,  after  the  persecutions  were  over,  counted  among 
her  children  the  Eoman  emperors,  and  the  great  and  noble  of  the 
earth,  she  surrounded  the  worship  of  God  with  a  splendor  until  then 
unknown ;  and  her  ministers,  out  of  reverence  for  the  Holy  Sacrifice, 
were  vested  for  the  altar  in  magnificent  robes  of  gold,  of  silver,  and 
of  silk.  The  shape  of  these  antique  vestments  has  been  preserved 
up  to  the  present  time,  with  the  exception  of  some  trifling  alterations. 
Formerly  they  consisted  principally  of  a  long  white  robe,  with  a  stole 
or  band  of  purple  worn  round  the  neck,  and  falling  in  front  to  the 
feet;  of  a  large  rich  vestment  over  the  white  robe,  called  a  chasuble; 
and,  lastly,  of  a  golden  circlet  round  the  head.  To  these  vestments 
the  Church  has  added,  during  the  centuries,  the  girdle  which  draws 
in  the  folds  of  the  white  robe  called  an  alb,  and  the  maniple,  or  em- 
broidered band,  which  the  priest  wears  on  the  left  arm  during  the  cele- 
bration of  the  Mass ;  for  bishops  the  golden  circlet  has  been  replaced 
by  the  mitre,  which  represents  the  divine  royalty  of  Jesus  Christ. 


298  THE   CEREMONIES  OP  HIGH  MASS. 

After  having  communicated,  the  priest  receives  the  ablutions,  and 
the  server  pours  wine  and  water  over  his  fingers  which  have  touched 
the  Blessed  Sacrament ;  then  he  wipes  the  chalice  and  covers  it  over, 
folds  the  corporal,  and  puts  everything  in  its  place. 

During  this  the  server  removes  the  Missal  from  the  right  side  to 
the  left,  a  symbol  of  the  future  conversion  of  the  Jews,  God's  an- 
cient people,  who  are  also  destined,  before  the  end  of  the  world,  to 
participate  in  the  light  of  the  Gospel.  And  just  as  the  return  of  the 
Jews  will  take  place,  according  to  the  ancient  prophecies,  a  little 
time  before  the  end  of  the  world,  so  this  simple  ceremony,  by  which 
it  is  prefigured,  takes  place  a  little  before  the  end  of  the  Mass. 

The  priest  then  turns  to  the  congregation  for  the  last  time,  dis- 
misses them,  and  blesses  them  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the 
Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  by  making  over  them  the  sign  of  eter- 
nal salvation ;  and  at  this  moment  he  is  truly  a  striking  image  of 
Jesus  Christ  at  His  last  coming,  when  He  shall  complete  the  work  of 
His  Church  by  His  supreme  benediction:  "Come,  ye  blessed  of  My 
Father,  possess  ye  the  kingdom  prepared  for  you  from  the  founda- 
tion of  the  world,"  *" 

Formerly  the  Mass  ended  with  this  benediction,  after  which  the 
priest  left  the  altar,  reciting  the  first  verses  of  the  Gospel  according 
to  St.  John ;  but  the  custom  has  now  prevailed  of  reading  this  Gos- 
pel at  the  altar  itself. 

We  trust  that  the  little  that  has  been  said  may  increase  your  rev- 
erence for  divine  things  and  help  you  to  assist  with  more  devotion  at 
the  Adorable  Sacrifice  of  the  Mass. 

THE  CEREMONIES  OF  HIGH  MASS. 

The  two  different  methods  of  celebrating  Mass  are  distinguished 
by  the  terms  Low  Mass  and  High  Mass,  or  the  Mass  which  is 
sung. 

As  regards  the  respective  excellence  of  the  two,  no  difference  ex- 
ists, and  the  only  distinction  arises  from  the  outward  solemnity  of 
the  ceremonies.  The  principal  difference  is  expressed  by  the  name. 
Low  Mass  is  said,  and  High  Mass  is  sung.  Christian  services  were 
not  always  accompanied  with  singing,  and  it  appears  that  during  the 
first  three  centuries  of  the  Church  the  sacred  prayers  were  simply 
recited.  But  when  the  fury  of  the  persecutions  had  ceased,  and  the 
conversion  of  the  Eoman  empire  permitted  the  Christians  to  cele- 
brate the  sacred  mysteries  without  fear,  they  became  eager  to  add 


302  VESPERS  AND  BENEDICTIONS. 

whom,  with  the  Father  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  angels  of  heaven 
continually  adore.  And  this  ia  what  we  too  must  do,  His  Christian 
children,  at  the  invitation  of  our  priests ;  from  the  very  depths  of 
our  hearts  we  must  say  to  our  dear  Lord,  so  soon  to  descend  for  us 
upon  the  altar:  "We  bless  Thee,  we  adore  Thee,  we  give  Thee 
thanks,  O  Lord  God,  heavenly  King,  God  the  Father  Almighty.  0 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  Son  of  the  Father,  have  mercy  on  us ;  for  Thou 
only,  O  Jesus  Christ,  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  art  most  high  in  the 
glory  of  God  the  Father." 

The  words  of  the  Gloria,  which  follow  the  Canticle  of  the  Angels, 
belong  to  the  first  ages  of  the  Church.  Many  learned  writers  attrib- 
ute them  to  St.  Telesphorus,  one  of  the  popes,  martyred  in  the  sec- 
ond century ;  many  others  to  the  great  St.  Hilary,  Bishop  of  Poictiers, 
who  lived  in  the  fourth  century.  But  it  is  certain  that  this  beautiful 
prayer  clearly  embodies  the  Catholic  doctrine  with  regard  to  the  mys- 
tery of  the  Incarnation,  attacked  in  the  time  of  Hilary  by  the  heresy 
of  the  Arians,  and  energetically  defended  by  that  great  bishop.  The 
Arians  pretended  that  the  Son  of  God  was  not  equal  in  all  things  to 
the  Father  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  that  thus  Jesus  Christ,  who  is 
the  Son  of  God  made  man,  was  inferior  to  His  Father.  The  Gloria 
gives  a  triumphant  contradiction  to  this  error  by  putting  into  our 
lips  these  words  to  say  to  Jesus  our  divine  Lord,  who  is  perfect  God 
and  perfect  man :  "  We  adore  Thee,  0  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  only- 
begotten  Son :  O  Lord  God,  Lamb  of  God,  who  takest  away  the  sins 
of  the  world,  have  mercy  on  us,  receive  our  prayers.  Have  mercy 
on  us.  Thou  who  sittest  at  the  right  hand  of  the  Father  (that  is  to 
say,  who  art  His  equal  and  sharest  His  almighty  power) ;  For  Thou 
only  art  holy ;  Thou  only  art  the  Lord ;  Thou  only,  0  Jesus  Christ, 
with  the  Holy  Ghost,  art  most  high  in  the  glory  of  God  the  Father." 
We  must  therefore  always  sing  the  Gloria  with  lively  sentiments  of 
faith  and  love  for  Jesus  Christ,  and  thus  unite  ourselves  to  the  faith 
and  love  of  the  angels,  who  invisibly  assist  the  priest  at  the  altar 
while  he  celebrates  the  most  holy  sacrifice  of  the  Mass. 

VESPERS  AND  BENEDICTIONS. 

The  evening  service  usually  consists  of  Vespers,  Compline,  and 
Benediction.  The  word  Vespers  signifies  evening  prayers.  No  one 
is  positively  obliged  to  be  present  at  these  offices,  but  good  Catholics 
consider  it  a  duty.  Formerly  it  was  an  obligation  to  assist  at  Ves- 
pers as  well  as  at  Mass. 


806  THE  PSALMS. 

their  hearts  to  prayer.  May  they  join  their  voices  when  they  can  in 
the  music  of  the  Church,  and  thus  give  to  all  the  good  example  of 
sanctifying  those  times  and  seasons  which  are  consecrated  to  God. 

THE  PSALMS- 

We  have  already  spoken  of  the  Psalms,  but  it  is  so  important  and 
so  practical  a  subject  that  we  must  return  to  it  once  more. 

The  Psalms  are  prophetic  hymns  and  divinely  inspired  prayers, 
and  were  almost  all  composed  by  the  propbet-kings  David  and  Solo- 
mon. They  form  one  of  the  most  beautiful  books  of  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures, and  it  is  of  faith  that  all  the  hundred  and  fifty  are  inspired. 

The  Psalms  are  all  prophecies,  in  the  sense  that  they  all  express 
more  or  less  clearly  the  adorable  mysteries  of  our  redemption.  There 
is  a  great  number  of  which  we  are  bound  to  believe  this ;  the  Dixit 
Dominus,  for  instance,  which  Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  interprets  by  ap- 
plying to  Himself  in  the  twenty-second  chapter  of  the  Gospel  of  St. 
Matthew.  The  Fathers  of  the  Church  have  all  interpreted  the 
Psalms  by  applying  them  directly  to  Our  Lord,  and  to  all  the  mys- 
teries of  His  divine  kingdom  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  time. 
These  holy  canticles  relate  equally  to  the  second  coming  of  Jesus 
Christ  and  His  final  triumph  both  on  earth  and  in  heaven,  and  to  His 
first  coming,  followed  by  the  terrible  struggles  of  His  militant  Church. 
In  almost  all  the  Psalms  there  is  what  may  be  called  an  outward  and 
historical  meaning,  which  is  only  of  passing  interest,  while  their 
real  value  consists  in  all  that  relates  to  the  personages  or  events  fig- 
urative of  the  Messiah.  David  himself,  like  so  many  in  the  Old  Tes- 
tament, was  indeed  a  prophetic  figure  of  the  Christ-King  who  was  to 
come  hereafter;  and  the  accounts  of  the  greater  part  of  the  events 
of  his  reign,  and  of  the  reign  of  Solomon,  which  gave  occasion  for 
the  composition  of  the  Psalms,  were  only  prophecies,  only  symbols  of 
great  and  divine  mysteries,  which  Jesus  Christ  Himself  was  one  day 
to  accomplish,  as  King  of  the  true  Israel,  King  of  the  Holy  Church, 
first  militant,  and  then  triumphant.  The  combats  of  David  and  the 
glories  of  Solomon  have  comparatively  little  interest  for  us;  but  that 
which  does  interest  us,  closely  and  personally,  are  the  combats  and 
triumphs  in  which  Jesus  Christ,  our  King,  engages  and  overcomes 
with  us,  and  in  us,  for  the  salvation  of  our  souls  and  for  the  glory 
of  God. 

We  must,  therefore,  pierce  through  the  outward  and  historical 
meaning  which  lies  upon  the  surface  to  reach  the  hidden  spiritual  and 


THE  SCAPULAR.  327 

We  hope  that  all  our  readers  sufficiently  understand  their  own  in^ 
fcerest  to  gain  their  jubilee.  What  happiness  at  the  moment  of  death 
to  have  nothing  more  to  pay  to  the  infinite  justice  of  God,  and  to 
have  nothing  in  perspective  but  the  immediate  enjoyment  of  the 
happiness  of  heaven ! 

THE  SCAPULAR. 

In  Latin  the  word  scapula  means  shoulder;  and  for  many  centu- 
ries the  garment  which  all  workmen  wore  over  their  clothes  to  pre- 
serve them  from  wear  and  from  stains  was  called  for  this  reason  a 
scapular.  It  was  formed  of  two  wide  bands  of  stuff  which  joined  on 
the  shoulders,  and  reached  to  the  knees  both  back  and  front,  leaving 
a  hole  in  the  middle  for  the  head  to  pass  through.  But  it  is  very 
long  since  this  kind  of  garment  was  commonly  worn,  and  the  scapu- 
lar has  become  a  religious  insignia  established  by  the  Carmelites  in 
the  thirteenth  century.  The  Carmelite  Order,  instituted  in  the  ear- 
lier ages  of  Christianity,  and  always  characterized  by  a  special  devo- 
tion to  the  Blessed  Mother  of  God,  was  obliged  to  abandon  the  an- 
cient monastery  of  Mount  Carmel  in  Palestine  to  avoid  the  fury  of 
the  Turks. 

The  Carmelite  monks  took  refuge  in  Europe,  where  they  met  with 
many  difficulties,  so  much  so  that  the  Order  seemed  about  to  perish, 
when  St.  Simon,  their  Superior,  made  a  last  appeal  to  Heaven  to  pre- 
vent this  catastrophe.  Kedoubling  his  austerities  and  his  prayers, 
he  offered  himself  anew  with  all  his  brethren  to  the  glorious  Queen 
of  heaven,  entreating  her  to  come  to  their  aid.  His  confidence  was 
well  founded,  and  in  these  words  the  holy  religious  related  to  his 
brethren  the  result  of  his  prayer:  "My  beloved  brethren,  blessed  be 
God,  who  never  abandons  those  who  hope  in  Him,  and  does  not  de- 
spise the  prayer  of  His  servants ;  and  blessed  be  also  the  Most  Holy 
Virgin,  Mother  of  Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who,  being  mindful  of  His 
mercy  toward  His  people,  makes  haste  to  help  us  in  the  midst  of  the 
great  tribulations  which  surround  us  on  all  sides!  To  me  who  am 
only  dust  and  ashes,  as  I  opened  my  heart  in  the  presence  of  God, 
and  asked  the  Blessed  Virgin  to  grant  some  unmistakable  sign  of 
her  protection  and  love  to  the  ancient  religious  family  of  the  Car- 
melites, whom  she  herself  had  honored  with  the  title  of  Brethren  of 
the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary,  ...  to  me  the  Holy  Mother  of  God 
deigned  to  appear,  resplendent  with  glory,  and  holding  in  her  hand 
a  mysterious  scapular:  'Eeceive,  my  son,'  she  said  to  me,  'this  vest' 


^  FIFTH     PART^ 


THE  RESURRECTION  OF  LAZARUS. 

A  MIRACLE  is  an  outward  fact  which  evidently  surpasses  the  forces 
of  nature.  It  is  the  extraordinary  exercise  of  God's  almighty  power 
in  the  world. 

To  deny  the  possibility  of  miracles  is  to  deny  the  power  of  God, 
and  consequently  His  existence. 

Miracles  being  the  seal  of  divinity,  if  Jesus  Christ  were  God,  He 
must  have  worked  miracles.  And  we  may  ask  of  Him,  like  the 
Jews  of  old:  "What  miracles  doest  Thou  that  we  may  believe?" 

We  need  not  fear  to  apply  this  test,  for  the  public  life  of  Our  Lord 
was  an  uninterrupted  succession  of  miracles. 

The  divine  recital  of  all  His  marvellous  works  constitutes  the  Gos- 
pel ;  and  the  most  important  and  the  most  solemn  of  all  is,  perhaps, 
the  resurrection  of  Lazarus. 

Lazarus  was  a  rich  man,  much  loved  by  Jesus,  and  the  brother  of 
Martha  and  Mary  Magdalen ;  he  lived  at  Bethania,  which  was  fifteen 
furlongs  from  Jerusalem,  and  often  offered  hospitality  to  the  Sa- 
viour and  His  Apostles. 

Now,  Lazarus  fell  seriously  sick,  and  his  sisters,  seeing  that  his 
life  was  in  danger,  sent  to  tell  Jesus,  who  was  then  in  Galilee,  and 
said  to  Him:  "Lord,  behold,  he  whom  Thou  lovest  is  sick."  Jesus 
answered:  "This  sickness  is  not  unto  death,  but  that  the  Son  of  God 
may  be  glorified  by  it."  Notwithstanding  the  love  that  Our  Lord 
bore  to  Lazarus  and  his  sisters.  He  remained  in  the  same  place  two 
days;  then  He  said  to  His  disciples:  "Let  us  go  into  Judea  again; 
Lazarus  our  friend  sleepeth;  but  I  go  that  I  may  awake  him  out  of 
sleep."  His  disciples  therefore  said:  "If  he  sleep,  he  shall  do  well;" 
and  Jesus  answered:  "Lazarus  is  dead;  and  I  am  glad  for  your 
sakes  that  I  was  not  there,  that  you  may  believe." 

When  Jesus  arrived  at  Bethania,  Lazarus  had  been  dead  for  four 
days,  and  was  already  laid  in  the  tomb.  Martha  and  Mary  were 
overwhelmed  with  grief,  and  were  sitting  at  home  and  weeping. 
Their  friends  and  relations  were  still  with  them,  trying  to  console 


84:3  THE  RISEN  JESUS  AND  MAKY  MAGDALEN. 


THE  RISEN  JESUS  AND  MARY  MAGDALER 

Mary  Magdalen  had  left  everything  to  follow  her  divine  Master. 
She  had  sold  all  her  possessions,  which  were  considerable,  and  had 
distributed  her  wealth  among  the  poor ;  a  holy  and  austere  life  had 
succeeded  the  life  of  sinful  pleasure  which  had  been  her  ruin;  and 
in  the  pure  companionship  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  she  had  speedily 
risen  to  a  subhme  degree  of  Christian  sanctity.  Mary  had  taken  her 
with  her  to  Calvary,  where  Magdalen,  more  courageous  than  the 
Apostles,  intrepid  in  her  fidelity,  and  unwavering  in  her  faith,  had 
been  present  during  the  long  hours  of  agony  of  Him  who  had  come 
down  to  earth  to  seek  and  to  save  the  lost.  She  had  helped  the 
Mother  of  Sorrows  to  receive  the  precious  burden  of  the  inanimate 
body  of  Jesus,  after  the  lance  of  Longinus  had  pierced  His  sacred 
side;  and  lastly,  she  had  been  among  the  train  of  mourners  who  had 
laid  within  the  holy  sepulchre  the  divine  Conqueror  of  death. 

After  the  funeral  ceremony,  the  Jews,  who  knew  well  the  solemn 
prediction  so  often  repeated  of  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ,  took 
every  means  to  guard  His  sacred  Body  with  jealous  care,  hoping  thus 
to  prove  the  imposture  of  the  Crucified.  The  living  rock  in  which 
the  sepulchre  was  hollowed  had  no  outlet;  they  had  closed  the  en- 
trance by  rolling  before  it  an  enormous  stone,  upon  which  they  had 
set  the  seal  of  the  temple ;  and  chosen  guards,  relieved  from  hour  to 
hour,  took  away  every  fear  of  treachery. 

On  the  third  day,  the  day  following  the  Sabbath,  at  the  rising  of 
the  sun,  the  rock  was  shaken,  and  an  angel  of  light  came  down  from 
heaven,  and  rolled  away  the  stone.  .  .  .  The  terrified  guards  fell 
back  with  fear,  then  speedily  took  flight.  The  Holy  Sepulchre  was 
open  and  empty ;  the  Almighty  Lord,  Jesus,  the  Son  of  God,  the 
Eternal  King,  the  Victorious  Redeemer,  had  risen,  and  had  conquered 
Death  and  Hell! 

Magdalen,  overwhelmed  by  bitter  grief,  left  her  home  at  the  dawn 
of  day,  carrying  with  her  precious  perfumes,  sweet  spices,  and  aro- 
matics  to  complete  the  embalming  of  the  Sacred  Body  of  her  Master, 
having  as  yet  only  a  very  vague  idea  of  what  Jesus  Christ  meant 
when  speaking  of  His  resurrection. 

When  she  reached  the  Holy  Sepulchre  she  was  astonished  to  find 
it  empty  and  unguarded.  Putting  down  her  perfumes,  she  leant 
over  the  opening  to  the  cave  into  which  a  few  steps,  cut  out  of  the 
rock,  led  down.     The  Body  of  Jesus  was  there  no  longer;  the  fine 


TIIE   REPENTANCE   OF  MAGDALEN.  848 

without  using  those  means  which  He  has  placed  in  His  goodness  on 
our  pathway  to  supply  what  is  wanting  to  our  weakness.  We  must 
have  recourse  to  the  ministry  of  the  pastors  of  the  Church ;  we  must 
listen  to  their  teaching,  and  be  docile  to  their  voice:  it  is  to  them 
that  we  must  confess  our  sins  in  deep  humility ;  we  must  follow  their 
religious  guidance,  and  receive  from  their  consecrated  hands  the 
divine  Communion,  the  Sacred  Bread  of  eternal  life. 

Like  Zacheus  we  must  rejoice  in  being  Christians,  and  the  service 
of  our  God  must  be  our  happiness  and  glory.  We  must  fearlessly 
observe  not  only  the  commandments  of  God  and  of  the  Church,  but 
the  counsels  of  evangelical  perfection ;  we  must  love  God  and  the 
poor,  and  strive  to  merit  from  our  just  and  merciful  Creator  the 
benediction  which  Zacheus  received:  "This  day  is  salvation  come  to 
thee.  .  .  .  This  day  I  must  abide  in  thy  house  I" 


THE  REPENTANCE  OF  MAGDALEN. 

Mary,  surnamed  Magdalen  (from  the  name  of  some  property  she 
possessed  in  the  town  of  Magdala,  upon  the  borders  of  the  Sea  of 
Galilee),  was  the  youngest  sister  of  Lazarus  and  Martha,  who  are 
ever  to  be  honored  and  remembered  for  the  holy  friendship  which 
bound  them  to  Our  Lord.  Lazarus  and  Martha  had  always  faith- 
fully obeyed  the  laws  of  God ;  but  their  young  sister  had  yielded  to 
temptation,  and  fallen  miserably  into  sin. 

One  day,  in  the  midst  of  a  life  of  depravity,  she  heard  speak  of 
Jesus,  of  His  miracles,  of  His  goodness,  of  His  perfect  holiness,  of 
His  mercy  to  sinners.  Attracted  by  curiosity  and  by  an  undefinable 
feeling  of  repentance,  the  poor  sinner  drew  near  to  the  Saviour,  lis- 
tened to  His  stern,  sweet  words,  and  received  from  Him  a  benedic- 
tion which  prepared  the  way  for  her  conversion.  Some  time  after, 
Our  Lord  arrived  at  Capharnaum,  near  to  Magdala,  and  remained 
there  for  man)''  days,  preaching  to  the  people  those  sacred  and  divine 
truths  which  are  summed  up  in  the  Gospel  under  the  name  of  the 
Sermon  on  the  Mount.  The  Blessed  Virgin,  St.  Martha,  and  the 
other  holy  women  who  followed  Jesus  and  provided  for  His  necessi- 
ties brought  Mary  Magdalen  a  second  time  to  the  Source  of  life. 
The  jBrst  words  of  Jesus  had  made  her  tremble  and  yet  filled  her  with 
hope,  and  these  humbled  her  to  the  dust.  But  she  dared  not  cast 
herself  yet  at  His  feet,  but,  returning  to  her  house,  she  dismissed  all 
the   sinful   and  worldly  companions   by  whom   she  had  been  sur- 


THE   FATHER  OF   A  FAMILY.  349 

years  of  their  life.     This  is  the  widow's  mite;  this  is  the  charity  Our 
Lord  declares  to  be  the  greatest. 

Dear  children  of  God  who  will  read,  perhaps,  these  lines,  if  it  has 
been  the  will  of  your  Father  in  heaven  to  cast  your  lot  among  the 
poor  He  loves  and  cares  for,  act  thus  unto  your  brethren,  and  you 
shall  be  rich  in  God's  most  holy  sight — rich  for  all  eternity. 

THE  FATHER  OF  A  FAMILY. 

The  Gospel  forcibly  represents  God  to  our  minds  under  the  figure 
of  the  father  of  a  family.  And,  indeed,  a  lesson  too  often  unheeded 
is  hidden  beneath  this  name.  It  belongs  to  God,  not  only  because 
He  is  the  Father,  the  Principle,  the  Creator  of  all  things,  but  be- 
cause the  manner  in  which  we  are  governed  by  His  Providence  is 
entirely  justified  by  the  conduct  of  a  good  father  of  a  family  here  be- 
low. Every  one  knows  what  constitutes  this  character:  a  constant 
vigilance  over  his  children,  an  untiring  care  for  their  welfare,  true 
affection  united  to  perfect  justice,  patience  with  their  faults,  and, 
more  than  all,  a  generous,  earnest  love.  Every  one  admires  a  man 
who  brings  up  his  children  upon  such  a  principle  as  this,  and  no  one 
would  be  so  unreasonable  as  to  blame  him  when  he  sees  necessity  to 
mingle  severity  with  tenderness,  punishments  with  rewards. 

But  if  it  is  thus,  how  can  we  ever  be  so  unjust  as  to  murmur 
against  God  when  He  acts  with  regard  to  us  just  as  we  ourselves 
act  with  regard  to  our  children?  Why  do  we  do  in  respect  to  God, 
the  Father  of  all  men,  exactly  that  which  we  condemn  in  our  own 
children,  who,  less  wise  than  their  father  and  ignorant  of  his  rea- 
sons, misjudge  their  parents,  murmur  against  them,  and  sometimes 
even  doubt  their  tenderness?  Let  us  consider  a  little  how  an  earthly 
father  acts  if  he  is  good  and  wise,  and  we  shall  clearly  see  that  God, 
against  whom  during  the  course  of  our  life  we  often  dare  to  murmur, 
acts  toward  us  exactly  in  the  manner  that  we  esteem  so  highly  in  an 
earthly  father. 

First  of  all,  the  father  gives  life  to  his  children,  who  think  little  of 
this  fundamental  benefit,  the  basis  of  their  existence  and  of  all  their 
happiness.  This  is  the  first  resemblance,  for  we  are  nothing  but 
children  grown,  and  we  forget  each  day  that  God  is  our  Creator, 
that  life  is  a  benefit  which  He  has  bestowed  upon  us  in  pure  mercy 
and  goodness,  and  we  never  thank  Him  that  He  has  sent  us  into  the 
world. 

Our  love  for  our  children  is  always  greater  and  more  disinterested 


THE   PRODIGAL   SON.  851 

their  safeguard.  When  they  transgress  our  commands,  and  we 
cause  them  to  suffer  for  their  disobedience,  the  child,  beating  against 
the  bars  of  wholesome  discipline,  regards  firmness  as  tyranny,  and 
its  parents  as  persecutors.  Do  we  not  act  in  tha  same  way  when  we 
murmur  against  the  justice  of  God,  when  we  resist  His  holy  law, 
and  refuse  to  understand  the  punishments  due  to  our  sins?  Lastly, 
when  the  erring  child  repents  and  throws  itself  weeping  into  its  fa- 
ther's arms,  does  he  not  pardon  it,  whatever  its  fault  may  be?  does 
not  the  repentance  of  a  child  always  efface  the  guilty  past?  And 
God  also  pardons  everything  to  repentance  when  He  sees  it  comes 
from  the  heart;  but  when  the  sinner  is  incorrigible,  God  acts  like  the 
father  of  a  family,  who  disinherits  and  curses  his  unnatural  child, 
after  having  exhausted  every  means  of  mercy,  entreaty,  and  forbear- 
ance; He  curses  him  eternally,  disinherits  him  from  celestial  happi- 
ness, and  counts  him  no  longer  among  His  children. 

This  striking  resemblance  might  be  carried  still  further.  If  we 
reflected  a  little  sometimes  on  that  standard  of  right  which  God 
Himself  has  given  us  as  the  guide  of  our  own  conduct,  we  should 
understand  more  clearly  His  dealings  with  ourselves;  we  should 
see  that  in  this,  as  in  all  things,  God  has  created  us  in  His  own 
image,  and  learn  humbly  to  accept  this  justification  of  that  divine 
Providence  of  which  our  best  and  highest  instincts  are  only  a  pale 
reflection. 

THE  PRODIGAL  SON, 

Such  is  the  title  of  one  of  the  most  touching  parables  of  Our 
Lord. 

A  parable  is  an  allegorical  story  which  embodies  for  those  who 
hear  it  some  moral  lesson.  Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  was  accustomed 
by  this  means  to  instruct  the  people  who  gathered  round  Him. 

The  parable  of  the  Prodigal  Son  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  in  the 
Gospel,  and  one  which  is  most  fraught  with  the  lessons  that  we 
need. 

Sinners,  won  by  the  mercj''  and  compassion  of  Jesus  Christ,  often 
approached  to  listen  to  Him,  and  the  Gospel  tells  us  how  the  Phari- 
sees murmured  against  Him,  saying:  "This  man  receiveth  sinners 
and  eateth  with  them."  Jesus,  who  knew  their  thoughts,  spoke  to 
them  this  parable : 

"  A  certain  man  had  two  sons : 

"And  the  younger  of  them  said  to  his  father:  Father,  give  me  the 


LAZARUS   AND  THE  RICH  MAN".  859 

LAZARUS  AND  THE  RICH  MAN. 

There  are  still  to  be  seen  at  Jerusalem  the  ruins  of  a  splendid 
house,  which  tradition  relates  to  have  been  that  of  the  rich  man  of 
the  Gospel.  For  some  believe  that  this  celebrated  parable  was  not  a 
simple  allegory  made  use  of  by  Our  Lord  for  the  teaching  of  a  truth, 
but  the  real  history  of  men  who  had  existed. 

However  that  may  be,  let  us  carefully  consider  the  divine  words, 
and  derive  from  them  instruction. 

"There  was  a  certain  rich  man,"  said  Our  Lord  one  day  to  His 
disciples  and  the  Jews  gathered  round  Him,  It  is  indeed  no  sin  to 
be  rich,  and  often  it  is  a  great  grace  from  God.  What  good  may 
not  be  done  with  riches?  And  how  many  of  the  poor  and  unfortu- 
nate have  reason  to  thank  Heaven  for  having  bestowed  fortunes 
upon  those  who  have  charitable  hearts  and  are  ever  ready  to  assist 
them.  At  the  same  time  we  must  reflect  upon  these  words  of  Our 
Saviour,  since  He  never  uttered  useless  words.  Therefore:  "There 
was  a  certain  rich  man,  who  was  clothed  in  purple  and  fine  linen." 
Here  we  have  a  most  serious  fact,  and  one  which  indicates  the  first 
danger  of  riches.  It  is  no  evil  to  be  rich,  but  it  is  a  danger  to  those 
who  have  not  the  true  Christian  spirit  and  a  compassionate  heart ; 
and  it  is  easier  for  a  rich  man  to  become  proud  and  egotistical  than 
it  is  for  a  poor  man. 

"The  rich  man  feasted  sumptuously  every  day."  This  is  the  sec- 
ond danger  of  riches  when  not  counterbalanced  by  piety :  sensuality, 
volupt  "ousness,  and  love  of  pleasure.  Indeed,  experience  proves 
that  it  is  infinitely  less  difficult  to  resign  one's  self  to  privations  than 
to  restrain  one's  self  in  the  midst  of  enjoyment. 

Such  was  the  life  of  this  rich  man,  entirely  filled  with  feasting, 
amusement,  and  all  those  pleasures  which  the  world  regards  as  per- 
fectly innocent.  According  to  human  judgment,  he  was  a  happy 
man.  It  also  appears  that  he  led  what  is  socially  considered  a 
blameless  life,  for  we  do  not  read  in  the  Gospel  of  any  wrong  that 
he  had  done. 

"  And  there  was  a  certain  beggar  named  Lazarus,  who  lay  at  his 
gate,  full  of  sores,  desiring  to  be  filled  with  the  crumbs  that  fell 
from  the  rich  man's  table,  and  no  one  did  give  him."  The  rich  man 
did  not  refuse  him ;  he  simply  forgot  the  beggar.  .  .  . 

And  dogs,  more  pitiful  than  the  man  of  pleasure,  seemed  to  fur- 
nish the  lesson  he  needed,  for,  gathering  round  poor  Lazarus,  they 


ST.    PETER   DELIVERED   BY   THE   ANGEL.  361 

Suffer  with  patience  and  with  Christian  fortitude  the  sorrows  of  this 
present  life,  and,  like  unto  the  poor  and  holy  Lazarus,  do  not  mur- 
mur, but  bear  your  cross  with  love  I 

ST.  PETER  DELIVERED  BY  THE  ANGEL. 

St.  Peter,  being  elected  by  Jesus  Christ  to  be  the  chief  of  the 
Apostles  and  the  head  of  the  Church,  commenced  to  preach  the  divine 
law  upon  Mount  Sion  on  the  day  of  Pentecost.  The  Apostles  and 
disciples,  priests  and  deacons,  preached  with  him  under  his  direction. 
The  Jews  of  Jerusalem  and  of  the  cities  and  villages  round,  having 
been  witnesses  of  the  Resurrection  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  of  the  won- 
derful miracles  of  those  whom  He  had  sent,  were  converted  in  great 
numbers,  and  asked  to  be  baptized,  so  that  a  considerable  society  of 
Christians  was  very  speedily  formed.  Herod,  the  enemy  of  Christ, 
was  alarmed  at  the  rapid  propagation  of  the  Christian  faith,  and, 
desiring  tc  please  the  unbelieving  Jews,  he  set  on  foot  a  violent  per- 
secution. St.  James  the  Greater,  brother  of  St.  John,  had  the  hap- 
piness to  suffer  martyrdom  upon  this  occasion ;  and  thus  the  Church 
of  Jerusalem  was  the  first  to  gain,  by  the  martyrdom  of  her  first 
bishop,  the  crown  of  the  glorious  victory  which  is  sealed  by  the  blood 
of  the  saints. 

But  Herod,  in  order  to  disperse  the  little  flock,  desired  to  reach 
higher  still,  and  struck  the  Sovereign  Pastor.  He  seized  St.  Peter, 
and  put  him  in  prison,  intending  after  the  Easter  festival  to  have 
him  put  to  death  in  the  presence  of  all  the  people.  Therefore  four 
bands  of  soldiers  guarded  the  holy  captive  day  and  night.  And  the 
whole  Church  prayed  without  ceasing  for  her  Pontiff  and  her  Father. 

On  the  very  night  preceding  the  day  fixed  for  his  suffering,  Peter 
slept  in  his  prison,  bound  b}'"  a  double  chain  and  with  a  soldier  at 
each  side.     And  other  guards  were  watching  before  the  prison  door. 

And  suddenly  an  Angel  of  God  stood  by  him,  under  a  human 
form,  but  surrounded  by  heavenly  radiance,  and  the  prison  was  filled 
with  light.  The  Angel  touched  Peter  and  awoke  him.  "Arise 
quickly,"  he  said,  and  immediately  the  chains  fell  from  his  hands. 
And  the  Angel  said  to  him,  "Gird  thyself,  and  put  on  thy  sandals, 
and  follow  me."  Peter  obeyed,  and  going  out  from  the  prison  he 
followed  the  Angel,  hardly  conscious  whether  it  were  all  a  dream  or 
a  reality. 

They  passed  the  first  and  second  body  of  guards,  and  came  to  thei 
iron  gate  which  leads  to  the  city,  which  of  itself  opened  to  them. 


^SIXTH  PART^ 


PIERRE  THE  APPRENTICE. 

One  Sunday  in  the  February  of  1858,  a  poor  boy  about  fifteen  of 
sixteen  years  old  came  to  my  house  at  Paris  and  asked  to  see  me. 
He  was  exceedingly  pale  and  delicate  looking,  and  was  very  meanly 
dressed.  His  large  blue  eyes  were  full  of  candor,  and  his  gentle, 
subdued  manner  pleaded  in  his  favor.  He  told  me  that  his  name 
was  Pierre  Sazy,  and  that  he  was  an  orphan  apprenticed  to  a  gilder, 
and  had  come  to  me  to  seek  refuge  and  protection.  I  made  him  sit 
down,  and  he  told  me  his  story. 

His  father  had  been  a  workman,  and  a  very  indifferent  Catholic, 
and  his  mother,  who  had  died  when  he  was  a  little  child,  was  a  Prot- 
estant.    Owing  to  the  care  of  Sister  G ,  one  of  the  good  sisters 

of  St.  Vincent  de  Paul,  who  knew  his  family,  the  two  children^ 
Pierre  and  Auguste,  had  been  brought  up  in  the  Catholic  religioUj 
and  the  poor  mother,  before  she  died,  had  embraced  the  true  faith. 
When  Pierre  was  thirteen,  and  Auguste  six  or  seven  years  old,  they 
lost  their  father.  They  were  received  by  one  of  their  aunts,  who  left 
no  means  untried  to  induce  the  children  to  become  Protestants. 

Pierre  resolutely  resisted,  and  although  he  was  deprived  of  all 
communication  with  any  Catholic  priests,  and  forbidden  to  go  to 
Mass  on  Sunday,  to  confession,  or  communion,  the  poor  little  fellow 
preserved  intact  the  treasure  of  his  holy  faith.  It  was  in  vain  that 
his  aunt  took  him  to  three  Protestant  pastors  in  succession;  the 
child  held  firm,  and  remained  faithful. 

At  last  his  aunt  grew  angry,  and  on  the  4th  of  January  she  told 
him,  as  a  kind  of  New  Year's  greeting  perhaps,  that  he  must  either 
become  a  Protestant  or  leave  her  house  at  once.  The  poor  appren- 
tice had  no  other  home.  His  employers  gave  him  board  and  lodging 
all  the  week,  but  on  Sundays  they  went  into  the  country,  the  house 
was  shut  up,  and  the  apprentice  was  obliged  to  go  where  he  could. 
Pierre,  being  now  forced  to  renounce  his  faith  or  to  remain  without 
food  or  shelter  for  twenty-four  hours,  did  not  hesitate  an  instant. 

865 


CONVERSION  AND  DEATH  OF  A  YOUNG  PROTESTANT.      369 

and  which  he  had  worn  round  his  neck  night  and  day,  and  had 
kissed  frequently,  saying:  "My  Jesus,  I  love  TheeT' 

The  next  day,  the  19th  of  July,  many  of  those  who  had  known 
and  loved  him  accompanied  his  coffin  first  to  the  church,  then  to  the 
cemetery  of  Montparnasse ;  very  poor  and  simple  was  that  coffin  in 
the  eyes  of  men,  but  very  rich,  I  doubt  not,  in  the  sight  of  God  and 
of  His  angels.  .  .  .  Upon  his  grave  I  had  a  white  cross  placed,  with 
this  simple  inscription :  "  Here  rests,  in  the  peace  of  God,  and  in  the 
eternal  love  of  Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  Pierre  Sazy,  His  faithful  ser- 
vant, who  lived  sixteen  years,  and  died  on  the  eighteenth  of  July, 
eighteen  hundred  and  fifty-eight,  in  the  conression  of  the  Catholic 
faith." 

CONVERSION  AND  DEATH  OF  A  YOUNG 
PROTESTANT, 

A  POOR  sempstress  of  Paris,  Mademoiselle  P ,  who  was  wholly 

devoted  to  God  and  to  good  works,  heard  one  day  in  the  month  of 
November,  1850,  that  a  young  Swiss  artist,  a  Protestant,  dying  of 
consumption,  had  been  reduced  by  poverty  to  enter  the  hospital  to 
be  nursed  through  his  last  illness. 

The  thought  of  the  lonely,  friendless  condition  of  this  young  man, 
who  had  lost  both  his  fortune  and  his  health,  and,  still  more,  a  desire 
to  save  his  soul,  inspired  Mademoiselle  P with  the  idea — a  sin- 
gular one  perhaps,  but,  at  all  events,  most  Christian — of  going  to 
the  hospital  to  see  M.  Gabriel  CEdmann,  and  of  trying  to  impart  to 
him,  if  possible,  the  only  true  consolation. 

According  to  the  Christian  rule,  Mademoiselle  P commenced 

by  prayer.  She  cast  herself  at  the  feet  of  the  Mother  of  God,  and 
promised  her  to  spend  for  the  poor  sick  man  all  that  she  could  gain 
up  to  the  time  of  his  conversion ;  she  asked  many  to  join  her  in  pray- 
ers for  this  intention,  she  had  a  Mass  said  for  the  success  of  her  good 
work,  and  then,  under  the  protection  of  Mary,  she  entered  the  hospi- 
tal of  Beaujon. 

Gabriel  CEdmann  was  thirty  years  old.  He  was  dying  of  con- 
sumption.    Death  was  already  written  upon  his  wasted  face. 

He  received  Mademoiselle  P at  first  with  astonishment,  then 

with  pleasure.  To  those  who  are  suffering,  any  kindly,  friendly  face 
does  good.  His  visitor  spoke  to  him  of  his  illness,  of  his  circum- 
stances, of  anything  that  would  be  likely  to  interest  him.  She  asked 
if  she  might  come  and  see  him  again.  "Yes,  indeed,  gladly,"  ex- 
Vol.  II.— 24 


880  THE  BITER  BITTEN. 

"And  what  is  more,  that  I  will  confess  to  him?" 

"I  bet  you  will  not." 

"I  bet  that  I  will.     Come,  what  do  you  bet?" 

"A  good  dinner." 

"With  champagne?" 

"  With  champagne." 

"Done  I  .  .  .  Agreed  I  .  .  .  Wait  for  me,  and  watch  the  manoeu 
vre." 

And  the  foolish  young  fellow  advances  boldly  to  the  priest  of  God. 
He  whispers  to  him,  and  he  rises  immediately,  enters  the  confes- 
sional ;  then  the  officer  goes  in  at  one  of  the  sides  and  kneels  down, 
just  as  is  always  done. 

"  Will  he  ever  have  the  effrontery?"  thought  the  other.  And  with 
a  smile  of  admiration  on  his  lips,  he  sat  down  to  wait  for  the  impro- 
vised penitent. 

This  went  on  for  about  seven  or  eight  minutes,  at  the  end  of  which 
he  thought  the  joke  had  lasted  a  little  too  long.  At  length,  after 
more  than  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  the  officer  rose,  came  out  of  the  con- 
fessional, and  left  the  church  after  making  a  sign  to  his  friend.  His 
face  was  serious,  and  he  seemed  deeply  moved.  However,  he 
laughed  about  the  adventure  with  his  companion,  but  would  not  tell 
him  why  he  had  remained  so  long.  Upon  the  first  excuse  he  left 
him  and  returned  home.  Two  days  after,  he  again  entered  the  As- 
sumption, and,  after  having  prayed  for  a  long  time,  approached  the 
same  conJ'essional  where  the  same  priest  had  just  gone  in. 

This  time  he  remained  for  half  an  hour ;  there  were  tears  in  his 
eyes  when  he  came  out.  .  .  .  Peace  and  joy  were  written  in  his 
face.  .  .  .  He  had  just  received  the  pardon  of  his  sins.  .  .  .  And 
what  was  the  meaning  of  this?  and  what  had  happened  to  him  two 
days  before?  It  happened  as  follows,  and  I  tell  it  in  the  officer's 
own  words: 

The  priest  to  whom  he  addressed  himself  very  quickly  perceived, 
by  the  tone  of  his  penitent,  that  he  was  listening  to  no  serious  con- 
fession. 

"This  is  all  in  mockery,  monsieur,"  he  said  gently,  interrupting 
him.  "You  are  doing  wrong;  you  must  not  scoff  at  the  things  of 
God  nor  at  His  appointed  ministers.  But  I  pardon  you  from  my 
heart,  and  I  pray  God  to  do  the  same." 

The  officer,  a  little  disconcerted,  tried  to  excuse  himself. 

"No,  no,"  said  the  good  priest,  smiling.  "You  have  done  wrong; 
let  us  say  no  more  about  it.     Still,  since  you  have  sought  me  out, 


THE   BITER  BITTEN.  881 

allow  me  to  speak  to  you  for  a  minute,  to  ask  you  what  you  are-  . 
what  is  your  calling?'* 

"Willingly,  father,"  replied  the  young  man;  "I  am  an  ofiQcer." 

"Ah I  that  is  a  ver}''  fine  calling.     And  what  is  your  grade?" 

"I  am  a  sub-lieutenant;  I  come  from  Saint-Cyr." 

"And  after  that  what  will  you  become?" 

"I  shall  be  a  lieutenant." 

"And  afterward?" 

"Afterward  a  captain." 

"And  afterward?" 

"A  commander;  then  lieutenant-colonel,  then  colonel,  then  gen- 
eral, then  lieutenant-general,  perhaps." 

"And  what  age  will  you  be  then?" 

"  Well,  if  I  have  good  luck,  and  if  I  go  to  Africa,  about  forty  or 
forty-five." 

"And  do  you  not  intend  to  marry?" 

"Oh,  yes,  I  shall  marry." 

"  Well,  then,  you  will  be  a  general  and  married ;  and  after  that 
what  will  you  become?" 

"After  that?  why  there  is  nothing  left  but  the  grade  of  a  mar- 
shal." 

"  And  supposing  that  you  should  obtain  that,  what  would  you  do 
afterward?" 

"  Upon  my  word,  I  should  do  nothing  more.  I  should  rest  with 
my  wife  and  my  children." 

"And  afterward?" 

"How  afterward?" 

The  serious  tone  of  the  priest  troubled  the  young  officer, 

"Ah,  well!  I  shall  die  afterward." 

"And  afterward?" 

The  young  man  shuddered.     Of  this  afterward  he  never  thought. 

"You  give  me  no  answer,  monsieur,"  said  the  confessor  gravely. 
"You  are  ignorant,  perhaps,  of  what  will  come  to  pass  afterward. 
You  have  told  me  only  of  what  will  happen  before.  But  now  I  will 
tell  you,  in  my  turn,  what  will  happen  afterward.  After  your 
death,  your  soul  will  appear  before  Jesus  Christ,  and  will  be  judged, 
not  according  to  that  human  glory  which  will  have  vanished  like  a 
dream,  but  according  to  the  good  or  evil  it  has  done.  If  you  have 
been  virtuous,  a  faithful  observer  of  the  laws  of  God,  and  of  His 
Church ;  if  you  have  been  humble,  pure,  chaste,  just,  and  merciful 
to  others, — in  a  word,  if  you  have  been  a  good  and  faithful  Christian, 


THE  HISTORY  OF  AN  OLD  BEGGAR.  386 

he  added,  "Why,  General,  I  assure  you  it  is  excellent;  just  taste  it, 
and  you" 

"And  my  vrord  of  honor,  colonel,  my  word  of  honor!"  exclaimed 
Cambronne,  striking  the  table.  "  And  Nantes !  and  the  prison !  and 
the  pardon  I  Have  you  forgotten  it  all,  my  good  friend?  For  whom 
do  you  take  Cambronne?  From  that  very  day  a  drop  of  wine 
has  never  touched  my  lips.  I  swore  to  you,  and  I  have  kept  my 
word." 

The  colonel,  full  of  admiration  for  such  unfaltering  fidelity,  pressed 
his  wine  no  longer,  but  commended  himself  anew  for  having  pre- 
served such  a  man  to  France. 

Men  correct  their  vices  when  they  desire  to  do  so.  The  word  im- 
possible is  not  in  our  language.  Still  less  is  it  a  Christian  word.  A 
firm  resolution  and  an  earnest  desire  overcome  all  obstacles. 

THE  HISTORY  OF  AN  OLD  BEGGAR. 

At  the  door  of  one  of  the  churches  of  Paris  an  old  beggar,  known 
by  the  name  of  Jacques,  came  every  day,  for  many  years,  to  sit  on 
one  of  the  steps  of  the  temple  and  ask  for  alms.  He  seemed  a 
downcast,  miserable  old  man.  He  scarcely  ever  spoke,  but  contented 
himself  with  bending  his  head  when  anything  was  given  to  him.  A 
gold  cross  might  be  seen  upon  his  breast,  only  partially  hidden  by  his 
tattered  garments. 

A  young  ecclesiastic,  M.  I'Abbe  Paulin  de ,  celebrated  Mass 

habitually  at  this  church,  and  never  omitted,  as  he  entered,  to  give 
some  small  offering  to  poor  Jacques. 

Belonging  to  a  rich  and  noble  family,  M.  Paulin  de had  con- 
secrated himself  to  God  in  the  priesthood,  and  spent  all  his  posses- 
sions among  the  poor.  Without  knowing  him,  old  Jacques  grew  to 
love  the  good  young  priest. 

One  day  the  Abbe  Paulin  missed  old  Jacques  from  his  accustomed 
place;  and,  as  he  remarked  that  his  absence  was  prolonged,  he  grew 
uneasy  about  the  old  man  and  made  inquiries  as  to  where  he  lived ; 
and  having  learned  his  address,  one  morning,  after  Mass,  he  turned 
his  steps  toward  the  dwelling  of  old  Jacques. 

He  knocked  at  the  door  of  an  attic  on  the  sixth  floor.  A  feeble 
voice  answer.ed  from  within,  and  he  entered. 

Jacques  was  lying  stretched  upon  a  miserable  pallet;  his  face  was 
pale  as  death,  his  eyes  were  dull  and  heavy. 

"Ah!  it  is  you,  Monsieur  I'Abbe,"  he  said  to  the  priest,  when  he 
Vol.  II.— 25 


394:  ST.    CECILIA,    ST.    VALERIAN,    AND   ST.    TIBURTIUS. 

THE  MARTYRDOM  OF  ST.  CECILIA,  ST.  VALERIAN^ 
AND  ST.  TIBURTIUS. 

In  the  reign  of  the  Emperor  Alexander  Severus,  under  the  Pon- 
tificate of  St.  Urban,  in  the  year  230  of  the  Christian  era,  there  lived 
at  Rome  a  young  virgin  named  CeciHa. 

Rich,  noble,  and  beautiful,  Cecilia  united  to  the  choicest  gifts  of 
nature  the  still  more  precious  gifts  of  grace.  She  was  a  Christian, 
though  her  family  was  heathen ;  and  the  beautiful  years  of  her  early 
youth  were  passed  in  prayer,  in  sweet  meditation  on  the  law  of  God, 
in  the  austerities  of  penance,  and  in  the  indefatigable  practice  of  all 
good  works.  The  book  of  the  Gospels,  hidden  beneath  her  robe, 
rested  always  on  her  breast;  and,  burning  with  a  pure  and  holy  love 
for  Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  Cecilia  had  solemnly  vowed  to  have  no 
other  spouse  than  He.  Nevertheless,  the  time  approached  when  the 
Christian  maiden  would  have  to  contend  for  the  power  to  keep  her 
promise.  Incapable  of  understanding  the  sublime  love  which  at* 
tached  the  heart  of  their  child  to  heaven,  her  parents  had  sought  a 
husband  for  her,  and  the  spouse  of  Christ  had  been  constrained  to 
receive  a  suitor  among  men. 

Valerian  was  the  name  of  the  young  Roman  destined,  in  the  eyes 
of  the  world,  to  obtain  the  hand  of  Cecilia.  His  nobility,  his  beauty, 
the  qualities  of  his  mind  and  heart  all  rendered  him  worthy  of  such 
an  honor.  He  had  a  brother  named  Tiburtius,  and  rejoiced  with  this 
brother,  whom  he  tenderly  loved,  over  the  happiness  in  store  for  him. 
Neither  understood  the  divine  nature  and  the  eternal  duration  of 
that  happiness  which  Cecilia  was  to  bring  to  them. 

The  virgin  saw  with  fear  the  day  of  her  bridal  approaching,  but 
also  with  that  superhuman  calm  which  faith  alone  can  give  to  Chris- 
tians. She  had  redoubled  her  prayers,  her  alms,  and  her  penances. 
She  wore  haircloth  beneath  the  rich  embroideries  of  her  sumptuous 
robe,  and  thus  chastised  her  delicate  flesh,  and  prepared  herself  for 
the  terrible  combats  that  she  would  doubtless  soon  have  to  sustain 
for  Jesus  Christ.  Our  Lord  came  to  her  Himself,  and,  in  order  to 
give  her  more  courage,  He  allowed  her  guardian  angel  to  become 
visible  to  her  eyes,  and  to  promise  her,  in  the  name  of  God,  a  contin- 
ual assistance. 

Nevertheless  the  fatal  day  arrived;  the  heart  of  Valerian  beat 
high  with  joy,  and  the  whole  nobility  of  Rome  assisted  at  the  nup- 
tials of  the  daughter  of  Cecilius. 


400  THE   CATACOMBS  OF  ROME. 

Jesus  Christ  to  them  with  her  dying  breath.  The  Pope  St.  Urban 
received  her  last  sighs.  Before  now,  she  had  given  her  house  to  the 
Roman  Church,  desiring  that  it  should  be  changed  into  a  Christian 
sanctuary. 

The  Pope,  out  of  respect  for  this  holy  body,  would  not  allow  any- 
one to  touch  it,  but  placed  it  himself  in  a  coffin  of  cypress,  in  the 
same  posture  in  which  it  had  been  left  by  the  blessed  soul  of  the 
virgin  martyr  when  it  had  taken  its  flight  to  the  bosom  of  God.  It 
was  carried  with  due  solemnity  to  the  Catacombs,  and  laid  near  to 
the  bodies  of  St.  Valerian,  St.  Tiburtius,  and  St.  Maximus. 

About  three  hundred  years  after,  during  the  Pontificate  of  Clement 
VIII.,  it  was  found  intact;  it  was  lying  on  the  right  side,  the  hands 
clasped  and  near  to  the  knees,  the  head  cut  by  the  sword  and  turned 
to  the  ground.  It  was  clothed  in  a  white  robe  richly  embroidered  in 
gold.  Cloths  stained  with  blood  were  at  the  feet  of  the  virgin 
martyr.  Her  precious  relics  were  then  united  to  those  of  her  hus- 
band, his  brother,  St.  Maximus,  and  St.  Urban,  and  transported  to 
the  basilica  of  St.  Cecilia  (at  Rome) ;  it  is  the  very  house  in  which 
Cecilia  died.  They  are  venerated  beneath  the  high  altar  of  this 
celebrated  church,  and  forty  lamps  burn  night  and  day  before 
them. 

The  22d  of  November  is  the  feast  of  St.  Cecilia. 

May  this  holy  virgin  deign  to  pray  for  our  country,  and  obtain  for 
it  the  grace  of  faith,  of  conversion,  and  of  final  perseverance. 

THE  CATACOMBS   OF  ROME. 

The  name  of  Catacombs  (Greek  kata,  kumhos)  has  been  given  to 
the  immense  subterranean  vaults  which  the  Christians  excavated  all 
round  the  city  during  the  three  first  centuries  of  the  Church,  in  order 
that  they  might  religiously  bury  their  dead,  and  might  celebrate  the 
holy  mysteries  without  fear,  and  also  as  a  place  of  refuge  during  the 
fury  of  persecution. 

It  is  impossible  to  give  any  idea  of  the  immensity  of  this  subter- 
ranean city,  composed  of  long  narrow  corridors  cut  out  of  the  soft 
sandy  rock,  and  intersecting  one  another  to  such  an  extent  that  no 
one  could  fail  to  lose  their  way  who  attempted  to  traverse  them 
without  the  help  of  a  guide  or  of  a  very  long  experience. 

There  are  about  thirty  catacombs  known  to  us.  The  largest  and 
most  celebrated  is  the  Catacomb  (or  cemetery)  of  St.  Calixtus,  so 
called  from  the  name  of  the  Pope  whose  body  was  laid  there  in  222, 


THE  DAILY   LIFE   OF  THE  POPE.  413 

The  four  pillars  which  sustain  the  cupola  are  of  such  proportions 
that  an  architect  has  been  able,  by  an  ingenious  thought,  to  con- 
struct in  another  part  of  Rome  a  vast  chapel  and  a  small  monastery 
in  the  same  space  of  ground  which  only  one  of  these  pillars  occupies. 
In  each  of  them  precious  relics  are  enclosed.  In  one  the  body  of  St. 
Veronica  rests,  and  the  cloth  with  which  she  wiped  the  face  of  Our 
Lord  as  He  ascended  to  Mount  Calvary.  In  another  is  venerated 
the  entire  body  of  St.  Longinus,  a  Roman  soldier  who,  after  the 
Saviour's  death,  pierced  His  Sacred  Heart  with  a  lance,  and  a  frag- 
ment of  this  lance  is  preserved  in  a  shrine  which  is  opened  on  Good 
Friday,  and  which  is  framed  in  two  magnificent  columns  from  the 
temple  of  Jerusalem.  In  the  third  pillar  is  preserved  a  noted  relic 
of  the  true  cross,  and  in  the  fourth  the  head  of  St.  Andrew,  the 
eldest  brother  of  St.  Peter. 

But  what  can  be  said  of  the  feelings  of  faith  and  of  gratitude 
which  fill  the  heart  of  the  Christian  when,  upon  the  day  of  grand 
pontifical  ceremonies,  he  sees  the  Pope,  the  successor  of  St.  Peter, 
the  depositary  of  his  power,  the  heir  of  his  promises,  offer  to  God, 
over  the  body  of  the  Apostle,  the  sacrifice  of  the  Holy  Eucharist, 
which  St.  Peter  himself  celebrated  in  the  cenaculum  upon  the  Day 
of  Pentecost,  and  which,  for  eighteen  centuries,  all  Pontiffs  and 
priests  have  offered  in  their  turn.  It  seems  as  if  the  most  divine 
spectacle  that  it  has  been  given  to  man  to  contemplate  upon  earth  is 
the  Sacred  Body  of  Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  veiled  beneath  the  Holy 
Eucharist,  and  offered  to  the  adoration  of  the  faithful  by  the  hands 
of  the  Sovereign  Pontiff  over  the  altar  of  St.  Peter.  How  sad  it  is 
that  there  should  be  any  who  could  witness  this  great  religious  act 
and  yet  be  incapable  of  comprehending  all  its  beauty  and  its  glory. 

THE  DAILY  LIFE  OF  THE  POPE. 

As  a  rule,  the  higher  the  dignity  to  which  a  man  is  raised  the 
more  weighty  and  difficult  are  the  duties  which  his  position  involves. 
I  know  that  this  is  not  generally  believed  or  understood,  but  it  is  none 
the  less  true.  Life  is  often  a  weary  burden  to  those  of  high  estate, 
and  there  is  less  liberty  in  the  palaces  of  princes  than  in  the  humble 
dwellings  of  the  poor. 

The  greatest  dignitary  in  the  world  is  undoubtedly  the  Pope,  the 
supreme  head  of  religion  upon  earth,  the  High  Priest  of  God,  the 
bishop  and  pastor  of  all  the  faithful,  the  spiritual  father  of  mon- 
archs  as  well  as  of  their  subjects.     There  is  also  no  man  in  the  world 


420  THE  PROPAGATION  OF  THE   FAITH. 

of  the  Cardinal  Grand  Penitentiary  a  silver  hammer,  strikes  the  first 
blow  on  the  wall,  which  is  then  pulled  down,  as  has  been  already  ex- 
plained, and  thus  gives  the  signal  for  the  opening  of  the  holy  year. 

Castiglione,  having  become  a  Bishop  and  a  Cardinal,  was  promoted 
to  the  office  of  Grand  Penitentiary  of  the  Eoman  Church ;  the  honor 
of  presenting  the  silver  hammer  of  the  Jubilee  to  the  Pope  therefore 
came  to  him  of  right.  On  returning  it  to  him,  Leo  XII.  said  in  a 
low  voice  with  a  mischievous  smile : 

"  Monsignore  il  Cardinale,  it  is  just  fifty  years  ago  to-day  that, 
under  similar  circumstances,  you  offered  me  another  silver  instru- 
ment in  a  somewhat  less  gracious  manner." 

"I  remember,  Holy  Father,"  replied  the  Cardinal  a  little  discon- 
certed, "and  I  trust  your  Holiness  pardoned  me  long  ago." 

Four  years  later,  after  a  reign,  alas!  too  short,  Leo  XII.  died,  and 
Cardinal  Castiglione  succeeded  him  under  the  name  of  Pius  VIII. 

How  greatly  astonished  would  have  been  the  witnesses  of  the  pro- 
cession and  stormy  encounter  of  1775  could  they  have  foreseen  the 
future ! 

Bad  beginnings  may  make  good  endings,  and  we  should  never  de- 
spair of  anything. 

THE  PROPAGATION  OF  THE  FAITH. 

All  the  nations  of  the  earth  have  not  received  from  heaven  the 
inestimable  gift  of  the  one  true  Faith. 

All  have  not,  like  the  poorest  villagers  in  a  Catholic  country,  a 
priest  to  receive  and  baptize  their  new-born  children,  to  teach  them 
to  know  God  and  to  know  themselves — a  kind  and  sympathizing 
pastor  to  comfort  them  in  trouble  and  sickness,  to  help  and  console 
them  at  the  terrible  moment  of  death,  and  to  pray  for  them  when 
they  are  no  more.  Out  of  the  immense  number  of  men  living  on  the 
earth,  many  hundreds  of  millions  are  still  deprived  of  these  the 
greatest  of  all  benefits. 

Therefore,  in  pagan  countries  the  most  terrible  crimes  dishonor 
humanity,  so  terrible  that  we  are  almost  tempted  to  ask  if  those  who 
act  thus  can  be  men  and  not  rather  monsters  in  human  form.  Thus 
in  China,  a  country  so  celebrated  for  its  riches,  its  arts,  its  civiliza- 
tion, hundreds  of  thousands  of  children  are  destroyed  every  year  by 
the  most  horrible  and  unnatural  means.  In  Africa,  in  Oceanica,  in 
Central  America,  there  are  tribes  among  whom  cannibalism  is  the 
practice,  and  who  follow  up  each  conquest  by  feasting  on  their  van- 


SAVED  BY  THE   MEMORY   OF  HIS  FmST  COMMUNION.  43t 


SAVED  BY  THE  MEMORY  OF  HIS  FIRST  COM- 
MUNION, 

In  the  year  1841  I  was  at  Paris  and  taking  part  in  the  Conference 
of  St.  Vincent  de  Paul. 

Some  of  the  young  people  who  composed  it  had  the  habit  of  visit- 
ing the  sick  in  the  hospital  once  or  twice  a  week. 

The  Hospital  Necker,  in  the  Eue  de  Sevres,  had  fallen  to  my 
share.  I  always  commenced  my  visits  with  the  chapel,  going  there 
to  ask  God  to  bless  the  work  which  for  love  of  Him  I  was  about  to 
accomplish,  and  to  accompany  the  words  and  counsel  I  was  going  to 
give  to  my  sick  people  with  His  benediction ;  and  then,  when  I  had 
finished  my  visit  to  the  wards,  I  returned  to  lay  the  fruits  at  the 
sacred  feet  of  our  divine  Master. 

I  was  obliged  to  leave  Paris  in  the  spring,  but  I  always  remember 
one  touching  incident  of  which  I  was  the  witness  upon  my  last  visit 
to  the  sick  of  Necker.  The  ward  I  had  to  visit  that  day  was  en- 
trusted to  the  care  of  a  sister  of  charity  who  had  grown  old  in  this 
holy  ministry,  and  who  was  no  less  indefatigable  in  allaying  the 
sufferings  of  her  patients  than  she  was  zealous  for  the  salvation  of 
their  souls.  On  arriving  I  went,  according  to  my  custom,  to  receive 
the  orders  of  this  good  sister.  She  especially  recommended  to  me 
six  or  seven  sick  people:  one  newly  arrived  and  still  unknown  to 
her;  another  in  a  dying  state,  and  needing  to  be  strengthened  and 
comforted ;  another  already  moved  to  repentance,  and  on  the  point 
of  conversion,  etc. 

"And  then,"  she  added,  "go  to  No.  39;  you  will  find  there  a  man 
of  thirty- two  or  thirty -three  years  of  age  in  the  last  stage  of  con- 
sumption, and  who  cannot  live  more  than  two  or  three  days.  I  have 
tried  in  vain  to  get  him  to  listen  to  me  or  speak  to  me,  but  he  has 
driven  me  away  from  him  three  or  four  times,  and  has  only  received 
the  chaplain  with  rough,  ungracious  words.  One  of  your  confreres 
of  St.  Vincent  de  Paul  has  visited  him  many  times  with  no  better 
success.  He  will  probably  receive  you  in  the  same  way,  but  no 
trouble  must  be  spared.  We  must  only  consider  the  glory  of  God, 
and  the  poor  soul  to  be  saved." 

"Well,  my  good  sister,"  I  replied,  "if  he  dismisses  me,  why,  then, 
I  shall  be  dismissed,  that  is  all ;  I  shall  be  none  the  worse  for  that. 
But  say  a  Hail  Mary  for  the  poor  man  while  I  go  and  speak  to  him." 

I  went  my  rounds,  and,  going  from  bed  to  bed,  I  arrived  at  No 


A.  LITTLE  CANDLE  TO  MARY.  461 


A  LITTLE  CANDLE  TO  MARY. 

Two  poor  old  people,  husband  and  wife,  lived  with  much  difficulty 
in  a  miserable  little  garret,  for  which  they  paid  twenty  francs  a 
year.  They  often  went  to  bed  without  any  supper,  and  their  break- 
fast very  often  consisted  of  a  few  hard  crusts  soaked  in  water.  They 
could  not  bear  to  make  their  poverty  known  and  ask  for  relief.  Once 
they  had  lived  in  comfort,  but  little  by  little  they  had  sold  every- 
thiijg.  One  Saturday  they  found  themselves  left  without  a  penny, 
without  a  morsel  of  bread  or  food  of  any  description.  The  wife  was 
very  infirm,  the  husband  was  sick  and  obliged  to  keep  his  bed.  The 
day  was  passed  in  suffering,  and  when  the  night  came  they  had 
eaten  nothing.  They  wept  and  they  prayed.  The  Sunday  which 
followed  was  still  more  terrible.  In  the  evening  positive  want  drove 
the  poor  old  woman  forth  with  the  intention  of  asking  help ;  but 
when  she  tried  to  speak  shame  prevented  her,  and  she  returned  to 
her  room  more  exhausted  and  discouraged  than  before.  For  forty- 
eight  hours  they  had  eaten  nothing.  Their  faces  were  pale  and 
wan,  their  strength  was  almost  gone. 

"  We  must  die,  my  poor  wife,"  said  the  old  man;  "God  has  for- 
saken us." 

The  poor  old  woman  did  not  answer.  But  a  little  time  after  she 
raised  her  head,  and  cried,  as  though  struck  with  a  sudden  inspira- 
tion: 

"  Let  us  invoke  the  Blessed  Virgin !  She  is  the  comforter  of  the 
afflicted  and  the  refuge  of  those  who  suffer.  She  will  deliver  us. 
Wait,"  she  added,  "I  have  one  little  candle  left.  We  will  light  it 
before  hor  image;  Mary  will  come  to  our  aid." 

The  unfortunate  people,  reanimated  by  this  last  hope,  rose  with 
difficulty,  and  in  the  mid^it  of  the  darkness  of  the  night  they  found 
the  candle,  lighted  it,  a^id,  placing  it  before  a  little  statue  of  the 
Blessed  Virgin,  which  had  found  no  purchasers  because  it  had  no 
material  value,  they  kn'^slt  down,  and,  leaning  against  each  other, 
called  to  their  aid  her  who  is  never,  we  are  told,  invoked  in  vain. 

They  wept  bitterly.   .   .  . 

A  workwoman  who  liv^d  opposite,  in  the  same  street,  had  a  sick 
child.  She  got  up  in  the  middle  of  the  night  to  give  it  something  to 
drink,  and  looking  out  of  the  window  perceived  the  light  in  the  little 
window  of  her  two  poor  neighbors.  She  knew  them  a  little,  as 
they  always  spoke  to  each  other  when  they  met. 


FILIAL  PIETY.  467 

address  of  the  sick  person  who  had  sent  for  him,  and  found  that  in- 
stead of  being  No.  18  it  was  No.  28.  While  thanking  God  for 
this  happy  mistake,  he  hastened  to  the  other  house,  where  he  found 
the  sick  woman  who  was  really  expecting  him.  He  heard  her  con- 
fession, then  without  loss  of  time  went  to  wake  the  sacristan  of  the 
parish,  and,  taking  the  Blessed  Sacrament  with  the  holy  oils,  re- 
turned to  his  two  sick  penitents ;  but  when  he  reached  No.  18  the 
poor  woman  had  just  expired.  She  had  received  the  pardon  of  her 
sins  in  sacramental  absolution,  and  the  fervor  of  her  good  will  had, 
doubtless,  supplied  in  the  eyes  of  a  God  of  mercy  for  those  other  aids 
which  the  priest  was  bringing  her. 

Full  of  faith  and  gratitude  toward  the  Blessed  Virgin  the  refuge 
of  sinners,  the  consolatrix  of  the  afl9icted,  the  priest  of  God  admin- 
istered to  his  other  sick  penitent  the  last  sacraments  of  the  Church ; 
and  it  was  he  who  himself  related  to  me  this  touching  adventure. 
It  is  but  another  instance  which  helps  to  prove  how  great  are  the 
treasures  of  benediction  which  spring  from  devotion  to  Mary,  and 
how  merciful  Jesus  is  to  those  who  love  His  Mother. 

FE.IAL  PIETY. 

In  a  very  small  house  in  a  poor  neighborhood  of  Paris  lived  a 
family  deserving  of  interest  from  their  poverty  and  misfortunes. 
It  consisted  of  five  persons,  the  father  and  mother  and  three  boys,  of 
whom  the  eldest  was  scarcely  fifteen.  He  was  a  young  apprentice. 
I  shall  not  give  his  name  nor  the  calling  in  which  he  had  been  em- 
ployed for  three  years,  but  shall  merely  saj"  that  at  the  workshops 
where  he  was  engaged  every  one  loved  him ;  not  only  his  companions, 
but  his  master,  because  he  was  kind  and  obliging  to  the  former,  re- 
spectful and  submissive  to  the  latter.  At  the  patronage*  he  was  cited 
as  a  model  of  goodness ;  while  in  his  own  home  he  seemed  like  the 
guardian  angel  of  the  house.  But  it  yet  remained  to  be  seen  to  hovr 
great  an  extent  his  filial  piety  would  carry  him. 

For  three  months  the  father  of  our  young  apprentice  had  been  ill 
and  out  of  work;  the  little  savings  of  the  summer  were  gradually 
dwindling  away ;  at  last  they  were  left  without  even  a  penny  in  the 
house. 

This  was  during  the  long  days  of  winter.  One  evening  at  five 
o'clock,  the  young  apprentice,  returning  from  the  workshop,  found 

•Tlie  patronage  is  a  house  where  the  members  of  the  Society  of  St.  Vincent  de  Paul 
receive  a  certain  number  of  apprentices  and  young  workmen  every  Sunday. 


470  HAVE  CONFIDENCE  IN  MARY. 


HAVE  CONFIDENCE  IN  MARY. 

While  I  was  at  Rome,  in  1845,  I  had  the  happiness  of  making 
the  acquaintance  of  a  good  and  holy  priest  named  Don  Biaggio.  He 
had  just  succeeded  as  Superior  of  the  Society  of  the  Missionaries  of 
the  Precious  Blood  to  the  venerable  founder  of  the  society,  Gaspard 
del  Bufalo,  who  had  died  in  1839,  after  a  life  which  had  been  not 
only  holy  and  apostolic,  but  resplendent  with  the  glory  of  miracles. 

Among  other  wonders  which  Don  Biaggio  related  to  me,  and  of 
which  he  had  been  the  eye-witness  and  sometimes  even  the  happy 
instrument,  the  following  would  doubtless  interest  my  readers.  I 
will  relate  it,  as  far  as  possible,  in  his  own  words; 

"I  was  then  twenty-three  years  of  age,"  he  said  tome,  "and  it 
was  in  the  year  1814.  Pius  VII.  had  just  returned  in  triumph  to 
his  beloved  Rome.  From  my  childhood  I  Lad  desired  to  become  a 
priest,  but  work  and  study  had  insensibly  impaired  my  health.  I 
had,  nevertheless,  been  able  to  ascend  the  first  steps  of  the  sanctuary ; 
I  was  a  deacon.  The  disease  of  the  lungs  from  which  I  suffered  had 
now  rapidly  developed ;  I  was  subject  to  an  intermittent  fever,  and 
the  doctors  spoke  most  seriously  of  my  case.  I  did  not  deceive  my- 
self as  to  the  decline  of  my  health,  and  with  the  probability  of  an 
early  death  I  sought  and  obtained  the  favor  of  being  ordained  a 
priest  one  year  before  the  canonical  age.  The  fatigues  of  the  ex- 
amination and  the  retreat  preparatory  to  my  ordination  exhausted 
the  little  strength  which  remained  to  me.  I  became  seriously  ill, 
and  the  doctors  called  in  consultation  informed  me,  after  a  careful 
examination,  that  I  had  reached  the  third  degree  of  pulmonary 
consumption,  that  it  was  not  possible  I  should  recover,  and  that  I 
had  better  make  all  necessary  arrangements  without  delay.  The 
Roman  physicians  are  men  of  faith  and  do  not  follow  the  deplorable 
custom,  prevalent  in  some  countries,  of  letting  people  die  without 
knowing  that  they  are  dying,  and  consequently  without  being  able 
to  prepare  themselves  to  appear  before  God. 

"  I  decided  to  go  to  Loretto  and  to  die  there  under  the  eyes  of  the 
Blessed  Virgin  beneath  the  shadow  of  the  Santa  Casa.  The  voyage 
was  painful,  but  for  a  dying  man  a  little  suffering  more  or  less  is  of 
small  consequence.  Arrived  at  Loretto,  I  dragged  myself  to  the 
Holy  House,  fervently  entreating  the  Madonna  to  assist  me  in  my 
last  agony.  I  had  been  there  a  few  days;  my  illness  was  increasing; 
one  morning  when  I  was  feeling  weaker  than  usual,  I  went  early  to 


SAINT  RITA  OF  CASCIA 


p  HIS  holy  woman  was  the  daughter  of  pious  parents,  Anto- 
nio and  Amata  (Fersi)  Mancini,  and  was  born  at  Eocca  Pa- 
rana, near  Cascia,  in  Umbria.  She  was  their  only  child. 
Four  days  after  her  birth,  a.d.  1381,  she  was  baptized 
in  the  parish  church.  An  exquisite  legend  relates  that  the  day  after 
her  baptism  a  swarm  of  beautiful  snow-white  bees — symbols  of  her 
purity  and  innocence,  and  of  the  irresistible  sweetness  of  her  words, 
which  drew  so  many  souls  to  God — was  seen  issuing  from  the  child's 
mouth,  where  they  had  left  behind  them  a  comb  filled  with  luscious 
honey. 

Under  the  zealous  and  watchful  care  of  her  parents,  she  grew  up 
in  sanctity,  and  at  an  early  age  evinced  a  leaning  for  a  conventual 
life.  Tenderly  devoted  to  the  Cross  and  to  Our  Blessed  Lady,  her 
early  life  was  passed  in  works  of  piety  and  penance.  Her  aged  par- 
ents, desiring  to  see  her  provided  for  before  their  death,  constrained 
her  to  marry.  In  this  they  were  grossly  deceived,  for,  as  it;  turned 
out,  she  had  been  committed  to  the  keeping  of  a  brutal  savage. 
For  eighteen  years  she  suffered  persecution  and  outrage,  but  grew 
more  exalted  and  spiritualized  under  the  fierce  pressure  of  affliction. 
But,  like  St.  Monica,  she  had  the  supreme  consolation  of  seeing  him 
at  the  last  hour,  in  answer  to  her  prayers,  die  a  death  of  fervent  and 
sincere  repentance.  At  the  age  of  thirty,  having  lost  her  two  sons, 
she  found  death  had  severed  the  last  tie  that  bound  her  to  the  world, 
and  her  pure  heart,  so  long  enchained,  entered  its  true  home,  the 
convent.  For  forty-four  years  she  passed  a  life  of  physical  suffering, 
prayer,  and  penance  within  the  convent  walls.  After  nearly  five 
hundred  years,  it  is  said,  her  body  is  to-day  incorrupt  without  the  aid 
of  embalming  or  other  human  bar  to  dissolution.  This  saintly  wo- 
man was  beatified  by  Pope  Urban  VIII.,  July  16th,  1627. 

Blessed  Rita  was  canonized  May  24,  1900,  by  Pope  Leo  XIII. 
Her  picture  shows  her  contemplating  the  crucifix  with  an  angel 
hovering  above  her  head  lifting  a  crown  of  thorns,  one  of  which  can 
be  seen  pierced  in  her  forehead. 

O  most  compassionate  Jesus!  Thou  alone  art  our  salvation,  our 
life,  and  our  resurrection.  We  implore  Thee,  therefore,  do  not 
forsake  us  in  our  needs  and  our  afflictions,  but  by  the  agony  of  Thy 
most  sacred  heart,  and  by  the  sorrows  of  Thy  immaculate  Mother, 
succor  Thy  servants  whom  Thou  hast  redeemed  by  Thy  most  precious 
blood.     Amen. 


*  SEVENTH  PART* 

A  SHORT  HISTORY  OF  RELIGION 

WITH  A  SERIES  OF  QUESTIONS  FOR  THE  YOUNQ 

BY 

THE  REV.  JOSEPH  DEHARBE,  S.J. 

THE  HISTORY  BEFORE  CHRIST. 

I.  From  the  Creation  of  the  World  to  Moses. 

2,   From  the  Creation  of  the  World  to  Abraham   (about 
4-000-1920  B.C.). 

1.  In  the  beginning  God  created  heaven  and  earth.  He  said :  "  Let 
them  be  made,"  and  they  were  made.  In  six  days  God  created  the 
whole  world — the  sun,  moon,  and  stars;  the  plants,  trees,  and  ani- 
mals; and,  last  of  all.  He  created  man  to  His  own  image.  The  first 
man  was  called  Adam,  and  the  first  woman  Eve.  They  were  just 
and  holy,  and  beloved  of  God.  They  lived  happy  in  a  delicious  gar- 
den called  Paradise,  and  they  and  their  descendants  were  exempt 
from  death. 

2.  God  commanded  Adam  and  Eve  not  to  eat  of  the  fruit  of  the 
tree  that  stood  in  the  midst  of  the  garden  under  the  penalty  of  death. 
But  the  serpent  said  to  them :  "  If  you  eat  thereof  you  shall  be  as 
gods."  Adam  and  Eve  believed  the  serpent,  and  disobeyed  God. 
For  this  sin  of  disobedience,  punishment  immediately  came  upon 
them  and  all  their  descendants.     They  were  driven  from  Paradise, 

QUESTIONS  FOR  THE  YOUNG. 

1.  How  did  God  create  heaven  and  earth  ?  In  how  many  days  did  He  create  all 
things?  When  did  He  create  man?  How  did  He  distinguish  man  from  the  other 
creatures?  What  were  the  names  of  the  first  man  and  woman  ?  Were  they  sin- 
ful, as  we  are?    Where  did  they  live?    Were  they  and  their  children  ever  to  die? 

2.  What  commandment  did  God  give  to  Adam  and  Eve  ?  What  did  the  serpent 
tell  them?  What  did  Adajii  and  Eve  do?  Were  they  punished  for  it?  Were 
they  alone  punished?  Wliat  piniislimeut  came  upon  them?  Did  God  then 
abandon  them?    What  did  He  promise  tliem  ? 


484  A   SHORT  HISTORY  OF  RELIGION  FOR  OLD   AND  YOUNG. 


THE   HISTORY  OF   CHEIST. 

Jt.  The  Birth  of  Jesus  Christ. — His  Hidden  Life. — His  PuDlic  Min* 

istry.     {1-3 J^  A.D.) 

21.  The  world  was  at  peace;  Augustus  was  Emperor  of  Eorae, 
and  Herod,  the  Idumean,  King  of  Judea,  when  the  promise  of  God 
and  the  predictions  of  the  prophets  were  accomplished.  Jesus  Christ, 
the  Son  of  God  and  the  Redeemer  of  the  world,  was  born,  in  a  stable 
at  Bethlehem,  of  Mary,  a  virgin,  descended  from  the  royal  family  of 
David.  His  birth  was  announced  by  angels  to  the  shepherds  at 
Bethlehem,  and  by  a  star  to  the  Wise  Men  in  the  East.  The  monster 
Herod  made  every  effort  to  discover  the  Divine  Infant,  that  he  might 
put  Him  to  death;  but  by  God's  command,  Joseph,  the  foster-father 
of  Jesus,  fled  with  Him  and  His  mother  to  Egypt,  and  did  not  return 
till  after  the  death  of  Herod.  Jesus  then  led  a  retired  life  at  Nazareth 
in  Galilee,  was  subject  to  His  parents,  and  "advanced  in  wisdom, 
and  age,  and  grace  with  God  and  men"  (Luke  ii,  52).  When  Ho 
was  twelve  years  old,  He  went  with  His  parents  to  Jerusalem  to 
celebrate  the  Pasch,  or  Passover,  and  remained  there  three  days  in 
the  temple,  astonishing  even  the  Doctors  of  the  Law  by  His  wise 
questions  and  answers.  At  the  age  of  thirty.  He  went  to  the  River 
Jordan  to  be  baptized  by  John  the  Baptist.  When  He  came  out  of 
the  water,  the  Holy  Ghost  descended  upon  Him  in  the  shape  of  a 
dove,  and  a  voice  came  from  Heaven,  saying:  "This  is  My  Beloved 
Son,  in  whom  I  am  well  pleased"  (Matt,  iii.,  17). 

22.  Jesus  then  retired  into  the  desert,  and,  having  fasted  and 
prayed  there  forty  days  and  forty  nights.  He  began  to  preach  the 
gospel,  that  is,  the  good  tidings  of  the  kingdom  of  God  on  earth. 
He  travelled  through  the  towns  and  villages,  and  proved  His  divine 
mission  and  the  truth  of  His  doctrine  by  His  holy  life,  by  miracles 
and  prophecies.     Those  who  heard  Him  were  filled  with  wonder  and 

QUESTIONS  FOR  THE  YOUNG. 

21.  Under  what  emperor  and  what  king  was  the  Redeemer  bom  ?  Where,  and 
of  whom,  was  He  born  ?  Who  was  first  told  of  His  birth,  and  by  whom  ?  How 
did  King  Herod  receive  Him  ?  What  did  St.  Joseph  do  ?  Where  did  Jesus  spend 
His  childhood  after  His  return  from  Egypt  ?  How  did  He  live  there  ?  What  did 
He  do  when  He  was  twelve  years  old  ?  What  did  He  do  when  He  was  thirty  ? 
What  happened  at  His  baptism  ? 

22.  What  did  Jesus  do  after  His  baptism  ?  What  does  the  word  gospel  mean  ? 
How  did  Jesus  prove  His  Divine  mission  ?  What  impression  did  he  make  upon 
the  people  ?    How  aaany  apostles  did  He  choose  ?    How  many  other  disciples  diu 


492  A  SHORT  HISTORY   OF  RELIGION  FOR  OLD  AND  YOUNG. 

deeper  root,  and  spread  more  and  more  over  the  world.  The  signs 
and  wonders  which  the  confessors  of  Christ  worked,  and,  above  all, 
the  imperturbable  serenity  of  mind  and  cheerfulness  of  heart  with 
which  they  suffered  the  most  cruel  torments  and  the  most  painful  of 
deaths,  convinced  the  Pagans  that  only  the  God  of  the  Christians 
could  be  the  true  God.  It  even  often  happened  that,  while  the 
Christians  were  suffering  the  most  horrible  tortures,  many  of  the 
Pagan  spectators  were  heard  to  cry  out :  "  We  also  are  Christians ; 
kill  us  together  with  them !"  and  thus  the  blood  of  the  martyrs  was 
the  fruitful  seed  from  which  new  Christians  continually  sprang  up. 

34.  By  permitting  these  persecutions,  God  had  sufficiently  shown 
to  the  world  that  the  establishment  of  the  Church  was  His  work, 
and  that  all  the  powers  of  the  earth  could  not  prevail  against  her. 
He  now  bestowed  peace  on  her  by  calling  Constantino  the  Great  to 
be  the  protector  of  Christianity.  This  emperor,  while  yet  a  Pagan, 
was  at  war  with  Maxentius,  Seeing  that  his  enemy's  army  was  far 
greater  than  his,  Constantino  prayed  fervently  to  the  true  God  for 
assistance ;  and  behold,  a  bright  cross  appeared  in  the  sky  to  him  and 
to  his  whole  army  showing  the  following  inscription :  "  In  this  sign 
thou  shalt  conquer."  Constantino  ordered  a  banner  to  be  made  in 
imitation  of  this  cross,  and  had  it  carried  before  his  army  in  battle. 
He  then  bravely  attacked  the  superior  forces  of  Maxentius,  and  over- 
came them;  and  from  that  moment  (a.d.  312)  Constantino  became 
the  champion  and  protector  of  Christianity. 

II.  From  the  Conversion  of  Constantine  to  the  Eise  of  Prot- 
estantism IN  the  Sixteenth  Century. 

1.  The    Church    Triumphs    over    Heresies. — The    Fathers   of   the 

Church. — The  Hermits. 

35.  The  cross,  that  had  hitherto  been  the  sign  of  the  greatest  ig- 
nominy, now  became  a  sign  of  honor  and  victory.  It  glittered  orj 
the  imperial  crown  of  Constantine,  and  was  displayed  in  Eome — ■ 
till  then  the  principal  seat  of  Paganism — on  the  Capitol ;  thus  to  an- 

QUESTIONS  FOR  THE  YOUNG. 

34.  Why  did  God  permit  these  persecutions  ?  Wliom  did  he  call  to  put  an  end 
to  them  ?  Who  was  Constantine,  and  what  can  you  relate  concerning  his  victory  ? 
In  what  year  did  Constantine  gain  the  battle  and  become  the  protector  of  Christian- 
ity? 

35.  How  was  the  cross  glorified  ?  What  did  Constantine  do  for  the  Christian 
rehgioii  ?    Wliat  effect  had  his  example  ? 


A  SHORT  HISTORY   OF   RELIGION  FOR   OLD   AND   YOUNG.  501 

rn.  From  the  Rise  of  Protestantism,  in  the  Sixteenth  Cen- 
tury, TO  OUR  Time. 

1.  Innovations  in  Religion. — Divisions  among    Those  who   Pro- 
moted Them. — Persecution  of  the  Church. 

43.  Martin  Luther,  an  Augustinian  monk,  a  professor  in  the 
University  of  Wittenberg,  a  man  of  a  turbulent  disposition,  in  1517 
at  first,  so  at  least  he  gave  out,  protested  only  against  the  pretended 
abuses  said  to  have  been  practised  in  the  publication  of  the  indul- 
gences granted  by  Pope  Leo  X.  to  those  who  contributed  to  the  re- 
building of  St.  Peter's  Church  in  Rome.  But  soon  after  he  arbitra- 
rily set  himself  up  as  a  reformer  of  the  Church,  inveighed  against  the 
ecclesiastical  authorities,  especially  against  the  Pope,  whose  pastoral 
supremacy  he  denounced  as  a  usurpation  and  a  tyranny,  which  he 
said  he  would  bring  to  a  miserable  end.  Following  up  his  false  prin- 
ciples, he  rejected  many  articles  of  faith  which  the  Church  had  re- 
ceived from  Christ  and  His  apostles.  He  discarded  the  Holy  Sacri- 
fice of  the  Mass,  fasting,  confession,  prayers  for  the  dead,  and  many 
other  pious  practices;  he  declared  good  works  to  be  useless,  and 
taught  that  man  is  justified  and  saved  by  faith  alone.  Moreover,  he 
threw  open  monasteries  and  convents,  and  gave  leave  to  the  monks 
and  nuns  to  marry ;  and  he  attributed  to  princes  and  sovereigns  the 
right  of  confiscating  the  property  of  churches  and  convents,  and  of 
assigning  it  to  any  use  they  pleased.  Finally,  he  broke  the  vow  of 
chastity  which  he  had  solemnly  made  as  a  monk  and  as  a  priest,  and 
committed  the  double  sacrilege  of  taking  a  nun  for  his  wife.  Luther 
boasted  that  he  took  his  doctrine  from  the  Bible  only ;  but,  being  mis- 
led by  the  false  rule  of  private  judgment  in  its  interpretation,  he 

QUESTIONS  FOR  THE  YOUNG. 

43.  Who  was  the  author  of  the  apostasy  from  the  Church  in  the  sixteenth  century  ? 
What  sort  of  a  man  was  he  ?  When  and  how  did  he  begin  his  conflict  with  the 
Church  ?  Did  he  stop  there  ?  How  did  he  behave  toward  the  Pope  ?  What  inno- 
vations did  he  introduce  ?  Whatjdid  he  do  with  regard  to  monasteries,  monks,  and 
nuns  ?  What  pretended  right  did  he  give  to  princes  and  sovereigns  ?  Was  his 
life  holy  ?  Did  he  teach  the  pure  Word  of  God  ?  Can  you  name  any  of  his  errors  ? 
How  was  his  doctrine  received  by  the  people,  and  how  by  some  princes  ?  What 
did  he  do  to  gain  the  favor  of  the  Landgrave  of  Hesse?  Did  any  imitate 
Luther's  example?  Where  and  what  did  Zvvinglius  teach  ?  Where  and  what  did 
Calvin  teach?  What  did  the  Anabaptists  proclaim?  What  havoc  did  the  Zwing- 
lians  and  the  Calvinists  make  ?  Did  the  different  sects  agree  among  themselves  ? 
What  measures  did  they  contrive  to  propagate  their  principles  ?  What  means  did 
they  use  in  many  places  to  make  the  Catholics  renounce  their  faith  i 


508  A  SHORT  HISTORY  OF  RELIGION  FOR   OLD   AND  YOUNG. 


5.   The  Spread  of  Infidelity. — The  French  Revolution. 

47.  Awful  events,  which  make  us  shudder,  remain  yet  to  be  re- 
lated. We  would  fain  pass  them  over  in  silence,  if  they  were  not 
most  instructive  for  us.  As  with  all  human  productions,  so  it  fared 
with  the  doctrine  of  Luther;  it  became  antiquated,  it  was  altered 
and  changed.  Sects  upon  sects  arose:  Baptists,  Presbyterians,  Epis- 
copalians, Quakers,  Methodists,  Moravians,  etc.  Each  one  of  these 
sects  claimed,  after  the  example  of  Luther,  to  reform  the  faith. 
Last  of  all,  impious  free-thinkers,  first  in  England  and  afterward  in 
France,  carried  their  presumption  to  the  highest  pitch,  and  conceived 
the  infernal  purpose  to  abolish  religion  altogether  and  to  exterminate 
forever  the  belief  in  Christ.  Under  the  pretence  of  enlightening 
mankind,  they  deluged  the  world  with  writings  in  which  they 
scoffed  at  all  holy  things,  grossly  calumniated  the  Pope  and  the 
clergy,  and  openly  advocated  the  most  shameful  licentiousness. 
Their  books,  written  in  most  attractive  language,  and  sparkling  with 
witticism  and  satire,  found  their  way  too  readily  among  all  classes 
of  people,  and  spread  the  spirit  of  profligacy  and  impiety  with  sur- 
prising rapidity.  The  enemies  of  God  felt  themselves  powerful 
enough  to  attempt  the  execution  of  their  horrible  plan.  They  first 
attacked  the  priesthood,  that  they  might  the  more  easily  scatter  the 
sheep,  after  they  had  smitten  the  shepherd.  The  property  of  the 
Church  was  confiscated  and  sold  in  France  about  the  close  of  the 
eighteenth  century ;  the  monks  and  nuns  were  turned  out  of  their 
peaceable  abodes  by  force,  and  the  religious  houses  were  plundered 
and  pulled  down.  Soon  after,  a  sanguinary  edict  was  issued  against 
all  priests  who  should  continue  to  discharge  their  duties.  Every 
priest  convicted  of  so  doing  was  cast  into  prison,  or  immediately 
hanged  up  to  the  nearest  lamp-post.  The  Christian  era  was  annulled, 
the  celebration  of  the  Sundays  and  festivals  was  abolished,  the 
churches  were  profaned   and   left  in  ruins.     Everything  that  re- 

QUESTIONS  FOR  THE  YOUNG. 

47.  What  became,  in  process  of  time,  of  the  doctrine  of  Luther  ?  What  "was  the 
final  result  of  its  alterations  and  changes  ?  What  did  the  free-thinkers  contrive  to 
do  ?  What  principal  means  did  they  make  use  of  ?  Whom  did  the  infidels  first 
attack  and  why?  What  became  of  the  ecclesiastical  property,  the  monks  and 
nuns,  and  the  religious  houses?  What  edict  was  issued  against  the  priests?  Wliat 
did  the  infidels  do  to  destroy  the  very  name  of  Christianity  ?  With  what  particular 
infamy  did  they  brand  themselves  in  their  madness?  Why  did  prosperity  and 
public  safety  disappear  ?    What  happened  to  Louis  XVI.  and  his  family  ?    What 


612  A  SHORT  HISTORY   OF   RELIGION   FOR   OLD   AND   YOUNQ. 

CONCLUDING  KEMAEKS. 
On  the  Historical  Argument  for  the  Truth  of  Christianity. 

We  have  now,  in  a  small  compass,  surveyed  the  History  of  our 
Holy  Eeligion,  and  considered  the  blessings  it  has  conferred  upon 
mankind  from  Adam,  our  first  parent,  to  Our  Lord  and  Saviour 
Jesus  Christ,  and  from  Him,  the  Divine  Head  and  Founder  of  our 
Church,  to  His  present  Vicegerent,  Leo  XIII. ,  happily  reigning  since 
February  20th,  1878.  How  sublime  and  beautiful  is  the  religion  we 
profess!  Everything  connected  with  it  calls  out  to  us,  "Only  God 
could  give  such  a  religion  to  mankind." 

1.  No:  man  has  not  invented  it;  God  Himself  has  taught  it  to  us, 
and  commanded  us  to  embrace  it.  He  revealed  it  by  holy  men  in 
the  Old  Testament  (§§  6,  11,  Y);  and  in  the  New,  precisely  as  the 
prophecies  of  the  Old  Testament  had  foretold,  His  only-begotten 
eternal  Son  appeared  on  earth,  and  most  convincingly  confirmed  His 
Divine  doctrine  by  numerous  miracles,  especially  by  His  resurrection 
from  the  dead  (§§  21,  22,  23,  26,  27).  God  has  spoken,  and  no  one 
has  a  right  to  be  indifferent  to  His  word ;  to  despise  or  reject  it  would 
be  to  give  one's  self  up  to  eternal  perdition. 

2.  The  religion  to  which  we  belong  did  not  take  its  rise  only  a  few 
centuries  ago;  properly  speaking,  it  dates  from  the  beginning  of  the 
world.  For  its  first  seeds  were  laid  in  Paradise,  when  God  promised 
a  Redeemer  to  our  first  parents  after  their  fall;  and  the  whole  of  the 
Old  Law,  with  its  sacrifices  and  wonderful  events,  was  but  a  figure 
of  the  New  Law,  which  contains  the  fulfilment  and  accomplishment 
of  the  Old  (§§  2,  7,  9,  12.)  The  Old  Law  believed  in  the  Eedeemer 
who  was  to  come,  and  the  New  believes  in  Him  who  has  come.  But 
it  is  the  same  belief  in  the  same  Eedeemer,  and  therefore  the  religion 
is  essentially  the  same. 

3.  Although  the  origin  of  our  holy  religion  dates  from  the  origin 

QUESTIONS  FOR  THE  YOUNG. 

What  have  we  now  surveyed  ?  What  have  we  chiefly  considered  m  the  History 
of  our  Religion  ? 

1.  Whence  does  our  religion  come  ?  By  whom  has  God  revealed  it  to  us  ?  How 
did  Jesus  Christ  confirm  His  Divine  Doctrine  ?  Is  it  immaterial  which  religion  we 
profess  ? 

2.  How  old  is  our  rehgion  ?    How  do  you  explain  and  prove  its  great  antiquity  ? 

3.  Is  the  history  of  our  religion  perhaps  uncertain,  because  it  dates  from  the 
origin  of  the  world,  and  embraces  so  long  a  i)eriod  ?    Why  not  ? 


CHRONOLOGICAL  SUCCESSION   OF  THE  POPES.* 


FROM 

St.  Peter  at  Rome  *   .        .        .        .43 

St.  Simplicius    . 

St.  Linus    . 

.      67 

St.  Felix  IL 

St.  CletuB  (Anacletus) 

St.  Gelasius  I.    . 

St.  Clement 

.      92 

St.  Anastasius  II. 

St.  Evaristus 

.     100 

St.  Symmachus 

St.  Alexander  I. 

.     109 

St.  Hormisdas  . 

St.  Sixtus  (Xystus)  I. 

.     119 

St.  John     . 

St.  Telesphorus          „        , 

.     127 

St.  Felix  IIL      . 

St.  Hyginus        .        .        , 

.     139 

Boniface  II, 

St.  Pius  I. 

• 

.    143 

John  IL     . 

St.  Anicetus 

•        i 

157 

St.  Agapetus  I. 

St.  Soter     . 

,        , 

.     168 

St.  Silverius 

St.  Eleutherius 

• 

.     177 

Vigilius 

St.  Victor  I. 

, 

.     192 

Pelagius  I.          . 

St.  Zephyrinus 

. 

.     303 

John  IIL    . 

St.  Callistus  (Ca 

lixtus)  I. 

.     319 

Benedict  I. 

St.  Urban  I. 

. 

.     323 

Pelagius  IT.        . 

St.  Pontian 

• 

.     230 

St.  Gregory  I.     . 

St.  Antherus 

«        « 

335 

Sabinianus          . 

St.  Fabian 

•        1 

336 

Boniface  III. 

St.  Cornelius 

• 

.     351 

St.  Boniface  IV. 

St.  Luciuj 

• 

352 

St.  Deusdedit     . 

St.  Stephen  I.     . 

,        , 

253 

Boniface  V. 

St.  Sixtus  IT.      . 

•                 4 

257 

Honorius  I.         • 

St.  Dionysius     . 

•                 4 

359 

Severinus  .        • 

St.  Felix  I. 

*                  I 

269 

John  TV.      . 

St.  Eutychian    . 

•                 , 

274 

Theodorus  I. 

St.  Caius    . 

,                  , 

283 

St.  Martin  I. 

St.  Marcellinus          . 

.    296 

St.  Eugeniusl.  . 

St.  Marcellus  I. 

308 

St.  Vitalian 

St.  Eusebius       .        .        , 

310 

Adeodatus  . 

St.  Melchiades  , 

311 

Bonus  or  Domnus  I 

St.  Sylvester      . 

314 

St.  Agatho 

St.  Marcus 

336 

St.  Leo  IT.  . 

St.  Julius  I. 

337 

St.  Benedict  II. 

St.  Liberius       , 

853 

John  V.      . 

St.  DamasusL 

.    366 

Conon          .        . 

St.  Siricius         . 

385 

St.  Sergiusl.      . 

St  Anastasius    . 

398 

John  VI.     . 

St.  Innocent  I.  , 

402 

John  VII.   . 

St.  Zosimus 

417 

Sisinius      .        . 

St.  Boniface  I.  . 

418 

Constantino        . 

St.  Celestine 

423 

St.  Gregory  IL  . 

St.  Sixtus  III.    0 

433 

St.  Gregory  III. 

St.  Leo  I.    . 

440 

St.  Zachary 

St  Hilary  . 

481 

Stephen  IL 

*  The  dates  of  the  accession  of  the  first  popes  cannot  be  accurately  given. 


518 


A  SHORT  HISTORY  OF  RELIGION  FOR   OLD   AND  YOUNG. 


FBOU 

Innocent  VL 1352 

Urban  V. 1862 

Gregory  XL 1370 

Urban  VL 1378 

Boniface  IX. 1389 

Innocent  VII ,  1404 

Gregory  XIL       .        ,       •        ,        .  1406 
Alexander  V.       .        ,        ,        .        .  1409 

John  XXL 1410 

Martin  V. 1417 

EugeniusIV 1431 

Nicolas  V 1447 

Callistus  (Calixtus)  IIL    .        .        .  1455 

Pius  II 1458 

PaulusII 1464 

SixtusIV 1471 

Innocent  VIII 1484 

Alexander  VL 1492 

Pius  III 1503 

Julius  II 1503 

LeoX 1513 

Adrian  VI 1522 

Clement  VIL 1523 

PaulusIIL  .....  1534 

Julius  IIL  .....  1550 

MarcellusIL       .....  1555 

PaulusIV 1555 

Pius  IV 1559 

St.  PiusV 1566 

Gregory  Zm. 1572 


moM 

SixtusV. 1585 

Urban  VIL 1590 

Gregory  XrV.      .        .        .        „        .  1590 
Innocent  IX.        .        •       •       ,        .  1591 

Clement  VIIL 1592 

Leo  XI 1605 

PaulusV.     ......  1605 

Gregory  XV. 1621 

Urban  Vm 1623 

Innocent  X 1644 

Alexander  VIL 1655 

Clement  IX. 1667 

Clement  X. 1670 

Innocent  XI 1670 

Alexander  VIIL         ....  1689 

Innocent  XII 1691 

Clement  XI 1700 

Innocent  XIIL 1721 

Benedict  XIIL 1724 

Clement  XII 1730 

Benedict  XIV 1740 

Clement  XIII 1758 

Clement  XIV.     .        .       .        .        .  1769 

Pius  VI 1775 

Pius  VII 1800 

LeoXn.      .        .       ,       .       .        .  1823 

Pius  VIII 1829 

Gregory  XVL 1831 

Pius  IX 1840 

Leo  XIII 1887 


C^t  ^ranefigura^ion 


mm} 


jND  after  six  days  Jesus  taketh  unto  him  Peter,  and  James, 
and  John  his  brother,  and  bringeth  them  up  into  a  high 
mountain  apart: 

And    was   transfigured   before  them.     And    his  face  did 
shine  as  the  sun :  and  his  garments  became  white  as  snow. 

And  behold  there  appeared  to  them  Moses  and  Elias  talking  with 
him. 

And  Peter  answering  said  to  Jesus:  Lord,  it  is  good  for  us  to  be 
here;  if  thou  wilt,  let  us  make  here  three  tabernacles,  one  for  thee, 
one  for  Moses,  and  one  for  Elias. 

And  as  he  was  yet  speaking,  behold  a  bright  cloud  overshaded 
them.  And  lo,  a  voice  out  of  the  cloud,  saying:  This  is  my  beloved 
Son,  in  whom  I  am  well  pleased:  hear  ye  him. — >S^.  Matthew  xvii. 
1-5. 

^be  Hgonig  in  tbe  (Barben 

And  when  he  was  come  to  the  place,  he  said  to  them :  Pray,  lest 
ye  enter  into  temptation. 

And  he  was  withdrawn  away  from  them  a  stone's  cast:  and 
kneeling  down  he  prayed. 

Saying:  Father,  if  thou  wilt,  remove  this  chalice  from  me:  But 
yet  not  my  will,  but  thine  be  done. 

And  there  appeared  to  him  an  angel  from  heaven  strengthening 
him.     And  being  in  an  agony,  he  prayed  the  longer. 

And  his  sweat  became  as  drops  of  bood  trickling  down  upon  the 
ground. — *S^^.  Luke  xxii.  J^O-J^lf,. 


r    THE  BETRAYAb    -. 


JS  he  yet  spoke,  behold  Judas,  one  of  the  twelve,  came,  and 
with  him  a  great  multitude  with  swords  and  clubs,  sent 
from  the  chief  priests  and  the  ancients  of  the  people. 
And  he  that  betrayed  him  gave  them  a  sign,  saying:  Whomso- 
ever I  shall  kiss,  that  is  he,  hold  him  fast. 

And  forthwith  coming  to  Jesus  he  said :  Hail,  Rabbi.  And  he 
kissed  him. 

And  Jesus  said  to  him:  Friend,  whereto  art  thou  come?  Then 
they  came  up,  and  laid  hands  on  Jesus,  and  held  Him. — St.  Matthew 
xxvi.  4-7-50. 

Before  the  Ibiob  priest 


®®®®® 


And  the  high  priest,  rising  up,  said  to  him:  Answerest  thou 
nothing  to  the  things  which  these  witness  against  thee? 

But  Jesus  held  His  peace.  And  the  high  priest  said  to  Him :  I 
adjure  Thee  by  the  living  God,  that  thou  tell  us  if  thou  be  the  Christ 
the  Son  of  God. 

Jesus  saith  to  him:  Thou  hast  said  it;  nevertheless  I  say  to  you, 
hereafter  you  shall  see  the  Son  of  man  sitting  on  the  right  hand  of 
the  power  of  God,  and  coming  in  the  clouds  of  heaven. 

Then  the  high  priest  rent  his  clothes,  saying:  He  hath  blas- 
phemed, what  further  need  have  we  of  witnesses?  Behold  now  you 
have  heard  his  blasphemy. — ^S*^.  Matthew  xxvi.  62-65. 


ND  Herod  and  his  army  set  him  at  naught :  and  mocked 
him,  putting  on  him  a  white  garment,  and  sent  him 
back  to  Pilate. 

And  Herod  and  Pilate  were  made  friends  the  same  day : 
for  before  they  were  enemies  one  to  another. 

And  Pilate  calling  together  the  chief  priests,  and  the  magistrates 
and  the  people, 

Said  to  them :  You  have  presented  unto  me  this  man,  as  one  that 

perverteth  the  people,  and  behold  I,  having  examined  him  before  you, 

find  no  cause  in  this  man  in  those  things  wherein  you  accuse  him. 

No,  nor  Herod  neither:  for  I  sent  you  to  him,  and  behold,  nothing 

worthy  of  dieath  is  done  to  him. 

I  will  chastise  him  therefore  and  release  him. — St.  Luke  xxiiL 
11-16.' 


mm 

Now  of  necessity  he  was  to  release  unto  them  one  upon  the  feast 
day. 

But  the  whole  multitude  together  cried  out,  saying :  Away  with 
this  man,  and  release  unto  us  Barabbas: 

Who,  for  a  certain  sedition  made  in  the  city,  and  for  murder  was 
cast  into  prison. 

And  Pilate  again  spoke  to  them,  desiring  to  release  Jesus. 

But  they  cried  again,  saying.  Crucify  him,  crucify  him. — St.  Luke 
gcxiii.  17-21. 


XLbc  jflaQellation 

ND  so  Pilate,  being  willing  to  satisfy  the  people,  released  to 
them  Barabbas,  and   delivered   up   Jesus,  when  he  had 
scourged  him,  to  be  crucified. 
And  the  soldiers  led  him  away  into  the  court  of  the  palace,  and 
they  call  together  the  whole  band : 

And  they  clothe  him  with  purple,  and  platting  a  crown  of  thorns, 
they  put  it  upon  him. 

And  they  began  to  salute  him :  Hail,  King  of  the  Jews. — St.  Mark 
XV,  15-18. 

"^ccz  Tbomo— Bebolb  the  Hlban 

— -w^®^ — 

And  the  soldiers  platting  a  crown  of  thorns,  put  it  upon  his  head : 
and  they  put  on  him  a  purple  garment. 

And  they  came  to  him,  and  said:  Hail,  King  of  the  Jews;  and 
they  gave  him  blows, 

Pilate  went  forth  again  and  saith  to  them :  Behold,  I  bring  him 
forth  unto  you,  that  you  may  know  that  I  find  no  cause  in  him. 

(Jesus  therefore  came  forth  bearing  the  crown  of  thorns  and  the 
purple  garment.)     And  he  said  to  them:  Behold  the  man. 

When  the  chief  priests  therefore  and  the  servants  had  seen  him, 
they  cried  out,  saying:  Crucify  him,  crucify  him.  Pilate  saith  to 
them :  Take  him  you  and  crucify  him :  for  I  find  no  cause  in  him. 
— Jdhnxix.  2-6. 


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[ND  going  out  they  found  a  man  of  Cyrene,  named  Simon: 
him  they  forced  to  take  up  his  cross. — Matthew  xxvii.  32. 
And  they  forced  one  Simon,  a  Cyrenian,  who  passed  by, 
coming  out  of  the  country,  the  father  of  Alexander  and  Eufus,  to 
take  up  his  cross. — Mark  xv.  21. 

And  as  they  led  Him  away  they  laid  hold  of  one  Simon  of  Cyrene 
coming  from  the  country :  and  they  laid  the  cross  on  him  to  carry 
after  Jesus, — Luke  xxiii.  26. 

DauglitBis  of  JemsalBm,  "Wbbd  Not  for  DIb" 

And  there  followed  him  a  great  multitude  of  people,  and  of 
women  who  bewailed  and  lamented  him. 

But  Jesus  turning  to  them  said:  Daughters  of  Jerusalem,  weep 
not  over  me,  but  weep  for  yourselves  and  for  your  children. 

But  behold  the  days  shall  come,  wherein  they  shall  say :  Blessed 
are  the  barren,  and  the  wombs  that  have  not  borne,  and  the  paps  that 
have  not  given  suck. 

Then  shall  they  begin  to  say  to  the  mountains:  Fall  upon  us;  and 
to  the  hills :  Cover  us. 

For  if  in  the  green  wood  they  do  these  things,  what  shall  be  done 
in  the  dry? — Luke  xxiii.  27-31. 


Christ  Disrobed— His  Garments  Divided  by  Lot 

' !JIIIIIII(l(lll!in!!!lI(!IIIIIHlIlII!!II!!IIIIII!!ll 

P^p^HE  people,  therefore,  formed  a  circle  round  Him:  the  rude 
i^w:  soldiers  pulled  off  His  garments,  which  were  adhering  to 
^Hl  His  wounded  and  mangled  body,  and  with  the  garments 
quantities  of  the  flesh,  opening  every  wound  again.  They 
then  threw  Him  on  the  cross.  Jesus  stretched  out  His  sacred  hands, 
and  offered  to  the  Eternal  Father  the  great  sacrifice  of  Himself  for 
our  salvation. — From  St.  Alphonsus. 

And  Jesus  said :  Father,  forgive  them,  for  they  know  not  what 
they  do.  But  they  dividing  his  garments,  cast  lots. — Luke  xxiii.  34-, 
The  soldiers  therefore  when  they  had  crucified  him,  took  his  gar- 
ments (and  they  made  four  parts :  to  every  soldier  a  part)  and  also 
his  coat.  Now  the  coat  was  without  seam  woven  from  the  top 
throughout. 

They  said  then  one  to  another :  Let  us  not  cut  it,  but  let  us  cast 
lots  for  it  whose  it  shall  be.  That  the  Scripture  might  be  fulfilled, 
saying :  They  have  parted  my  garments  among  them :  and  upon  my 
vesture  have  they  cast  lots.  And  the  soldiers  indeed  did  these  things. 
—John  xix,  2S,  24., 

THE  CRUCIFIXION 


And  they  sat  and  watched  him. 

And  they  put  over  his  head  his  cause  written :  This  is  Jesus  the 
King  of  the  Jews. 

Then  were  crucified  with  him  two  thieves :  one  on  the  right  hand 
and  one  on  the  left. — Matthew  xxvii.  36-38. 

And  it  was  the  third  hour:  and  they  crucified  him. 

And  the  inscription  of  his  cause  was  written  over:  The  King  op 
THE  Jews. — Mark  xv.  ^5,  26. 

And  there  was  also  a  superscription  written  over  him  in  letters  of 
Greek,  and  Latin,  and  Hebrew:  This  is  the  King  of  the  Jews. — 
Luke  xxiii.  38. 

Where  they  crucified  him,  and  with  him  two  others  one  on  each 
side,  and  Jesus  in  the  midst. 

And  Pilate  wrote  a  title  also :  and  he  put  it  upon  the  cross.  And 
the  writing  wasr  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  the  King  of  the  Jews. — 
John,  xix.  18  ^  19, 


%}tj^  jP^gcjMxt  ixom  thi^  (^xoss 


®®«®®®®®#®9 


ND  when  it  was  evening,  there  came  a  certain  rich  man  of 
Arimathea,  named  Joseph,  who  also  was  a  disciple  of 
Jesus. 

He  went  to  Pilate  and  asked  the  body  of  Jesus.     Then 
Pilate  commanded  that  the  body  should  be  delivered. 

And  Joseph  taking  the  body,  wrapt  it  up  in  a  clean  linen  cloth; 
And  laid  it  in  his  own  new  monument,  which  he  had  hewed  out  in 
a  rock. — St.  Matthew  xxvii.  57-60. 

And  Nicodemus  also  came,  he  who  at  the  first  came  to  Jesus  by 
night,  bringing  a  mixture  of  myrrh  and  aloes,  about  a  hundred 
pounds  weight. 

They  took  therefore  the  body  of  Jesus  and  bound  it  in  linen  cloths 
with  the  spices,  as  the  manner  of  the  Jews  is  to  bury. — St.  John  xix. 
39,  JiO. 

PRAYER  TO  OUR  LADY  OF  SORROWS 

"^^^^ 

To  be  made  before  her  Altar  or  linage^  immediately  after  performing 
the  Stations,  or  at  any  other  time. 

0  most  holy  Mother,  Queen  of  Sorrows,  who  didst  follow  thy  be- 
loved Son  through  all  the  Way  of  the  Cross,  and  whose  heart  was 
pierced  with  a  fresh  sword  of  grief  at  all  the  stations  of  that  most 
sorrowful  journey;  obtain  for  us,  we  beseech  thee,  0  most  loving 
Mother,  a  perpetual  remembrance  of  our  blessed  Saviour's  Cross  and 
Death,  and  a  true  and  tender  devotion  to  all  the  mysteries  of  His 
most  holy  Passion ;  obtain  for  us  the  grace  to  hate  sin,  even  as  He 
hated  it  in  the  agony  in  the  garden ;  to  endure  wrong  and  insult 
with  all  patience,  as  He  endured  them  in  the  judgment  hall ;  to  be 
meek  and  humble  in  all  our  trials,  as  He  was  before  His  judges ;  to 
love  our  enemies  even  as  He  loved  His  murderers,  and  prayed  for 
them  upon  the  Cross;  and  to  glorify  God  and  do  good  to  our  neigh- 
bors, even  as  He  did  in  every  mystery  of  His  sufferings.  O  Queen 
of  Martyrs,  who,  by  the  dolors  of  thy  immaculate  heart  on  Calvary, 
didst  merit  to  share  the  Passion  of  our  most  dear  Eedeemer,  obtain 
for  us  some  portion  of  thy  compassion,  that,  for  the  love  of  Jesus 
crucified,  we  may  be  crucified  to  the  world  in  this  life ;  and  in  the 
life  to  come  may,  by  His  infinite  merits  and  thy  powerful  interces- 
sion, reign  with  Him  in  glory  everlasting.     Amen. 


*  EIGHTH  PART* 


Glorious  Lessons  555^;^ 

Light  of  the  Cross 

FOR  TRUE  FOLLOWERS  OF  CHRIST 

From  THOMAS  A  KEMPIS 


INTRODUCTION. 

Thomas  k  Kempis  was  born  in  1380,  at  Kemp,  a  village 
situated  at  a  small  distance  from  Cologne.  His  surname  was 
Hammerlin,  or  Little  Hammer^  translated  into  the  word  Mal- 
leolus^ by  his  Latin  biographers.  His  parents  were  of  low  con- 
dition ;  they  were  highly  respected  for  their  piety. 

When  he  attained  his  sixth  year,  he  was  placed  in  one  of 
the  houses  belonging  to  the  Society  of  Brothers  and  Sisters  of 
Common  Life.  It  is  remarkable  that,  in  one  of  the  schools  of 
this  society,  Erasmus  received  his  first  rudiments  of  learning. 

The  school  in  which  Thomas  k  Kempis  entered  himself,  was 
in  the  town  of  Daventer,  in  West  Friesland :  where  Florentius, 
the  immediate  successor  of  Gerard  de  Groote^  the  founder  of  the 
society,  was  vicar  of  the  principal  church. 

When  he  attained  his  nineteenth  year,  Thomas  a  Kempis  de- 
termined to  enter  the  order  of  Saint  Augustine.  Tradition 
deduces  that  order  from  the  celebrated  doctor  of  the  church  of 
that  name.  Till  the  eleventh  century,  the  monks  of  Saint  Au- 
gustine seem  to  have  been  little  more  than  a  voluntary  associa- 
tion of  ecclesiastics  ;  about  that  time  they  were  fixed  in  a  perma- 
nent order.  They  exercised  a  variety  of  ecclesiastical  functions, 
and  their  public  schools  for  instruction  of  youth  were  particularly 
esteemed.  Florentius  encouraged  the  Saint  in  his  resolution  to 
enter  among  them.     He  continued  a  novice  during  five  years. 

From  the  time  of  his  profession,  till  his  decease,  a  period  of 
sixty-six  years,  Thomas  a  Kempis  remained  in  the  monastery  of 
Zwoll,  and  in  the  continual  practice  of  every  virtue  of  his  state. 


PRECIOUS  WORDS  FROM   THOMAS  A  KEMPIS.  537 

ence,  they  walked    in  charity  and  patience  ;  and  so  every  day 
they  advanced  in  spirit,  and  gained  great  favor  with  God. 

They  were  given  for  an  example  to  all  religious ;  and  ought 
more  to  excite  us  to  advance  in  good,  than  the  number  of  the 
lukewarm  induce  us  to  grow  remiss. 

5.  Oh,  how  great  was  the  fervor  of  all  religious  in  the  begin- 
ning of  their  holy  institute  ! 

Oh,  how  great  was  their  devotion  in  prayer !  how  great  their 
zeal  for  virtue  !  how  vigorous  the  discipline  that  was  kept  up  ! 
what  reverence  and  obedience,  under  the  rule  of  the  superior, 
flourished  in  all ! 

Their  traces  that  remain  still  bear  witness,  that  they  were 
truly  holy  and  perfect  men  who  did  battle  so  stoutly,  and 
trampled  the  world  under  their  feet. 

Now  he  is  thought  great  who  is  not  a  trangressor ;  and  who 
can  with  patience  endure  what  he  hath  undertaken. 

6.  Ah,  the  lukewarmness  and  negligence  of  our  state  !  that 
we  so  soon  fall  away  from  our  first  fervor,  and  are  even  now 
tired  of  life  through  slothfulness  and  tepidity. 

Would  to  God  that  advancement  in  virtue  were  not  quite 
asleep  in  thee,  who  hast  so  often  seen  the  manifold  examples  of 
the  devout ! 

*'  HE    THAT    FpLLOWETH    ME,    WALKLTH    NOT   IN    DARKNESS." 

1.  These  are  the  words  of  Christ,  whereby  we  are  admonished 
how  we  must  imitate  His  life  and  conversation,  if  we  would  be 
truly  enlightened  and  delivered  from  all  blindness  of  heart. 

Let  it,  then,  be  our  chief  study  to  meditate  on  the  life  of 
Jesus  Christ. 

2.  The  teaching  of  Christ  surpasseth  all  the  teachings  of 
the  Saints  ;  and  he  that  hath  His  Spirit,  will  find  therein 
a  hidden  manna. 

But  it  happeneth  that  many,  from  the  frequent  hearing  of 
the  Gospel,  feel  little  emotion ;  because  they  have  not  the 
spirit  of  Christ. 

But  he  that  would  fully  and  with  relish  understand  the  words 
of  Christ,  must  study  to  conform  his  whole  life  to  Him. 


PRECIOUS    WORDS   FROM   THOMAS   A   KEMPIS.       "  645 

5.  If  every  year  we  rooted  out  one  vice,  we  should  soon 
become  perfect  men. 

But  now  we  often  feel,  on  the  contrary,  that  we  have  been 
better  and  more  pure  in  the  beginning  of  our  conversion,  than 
after  many  years  of  our  profession. 

Our  fervor  and  progress  ought  to  increase  daily  ;  but  now  it  is 
esteemed  a  great  thing  if  any  one  can  retain  something  of  his 
first  fervor. 

If  we  would  do  ourselves  a  little  violence  in  the  beginning, 
afterwards  we  should  be  able  to  do  all  things  with  ease  and  joy. 

6.  It  is  hard  to  give  up  what  we  are  accustomed  to,  but 
harder  to  .go  contrary  to  our  own  will. 

But  if  thou  overcome  not  little  and  easy  things,  how  wilt 
thou  surmount  greater  difficulties. 

Resist  thine  inclination  in  the  beginning,  and  break  off  evil 
habits ;  lest,  by  little  and  little,  the  difficulty  increase  upon  thee. 

Oh,  if  thou  didst  consider  what  peace  thou  wouldst  procure 
for  thyself,  and  what  joy  for  others,  by  well-doing,  I  think  thou 
wouldst  be  more  soHcitous  for  thy  spiritual  progress. 

OF    RESISTING   TEMPTATIONS. 

As  long  as  we  live  in  this  world,  we  cannot  be  without  tribu- 
lation and  temptation. 

Hence  it  is  written  in  Job,  "  Man's  life  on  earth  is  a  tempta- 
tion." 

Everyone,  therefore,  should  be  solicitous  about  his  temp- 
tations, and  watch  in  prayer,  lest  the  devil  find  opportunity  to 
catch  him;  who  never  sleepeth,  but  "goeth  about,  seeking 
whom  he  may  devour." 

No  one  is  so  perfect  and  holy,  as  not  sometimes  to  have 
temptations  ;  and  we  never  can  be  wholly  free  from  them. 

2.  Nevertheless,  temptations  are  often  very  profitable  to  a 
man,  troublesome  and  grievous  though  they  be  ;  for  in  them  a 
man  is  humbled,  purified,  and  instructed. 

All  the  Saints  passed  through  many  tribulations  and  tempta- 
tions, and  profited  by  them. 

And  they  that  could  not  support  temptations,  became   repro 
bate,  and  fell  away. 


PRECIOUS   WORDS   FROM   THOMAS   A  KEMPIS.  649 

He  doth  much  who  doth  well  what  he  doeth. 

He  doth  well,  who  regardeth  rather  the  common  good  than 
his  own  will. 

Oftentimes  that  seemeth  to  be  charity  which  is  rather  of  the 
flesh  ;  for  natural  inclination,  self-will,  hope  of  reward,  study  of 
our  own  interest,  will  seldom  be  absent. 

3.  He  that  hath  true  and  perfect  charity  seeketh  himself  in 
nothing,  but  only  desireth  God  to  be  glorified  in  all  things. 

And  he  envieth  no  man,  for  he  loveth  no  joy  for  himself  alone. 

Neither  doth  he  desire  to  rejoice  in  himself,  but  above  all 
good  things  wisheth  to  find  his  blessedness  in  God. 

He  attributeth  nothing  of  good  to  any  man,  but  referreth  it 
all  to  God,  from  whom,  as  from  their  fountain,  all  things  proceed, 
and  in  whom  as  in  their  end,  all  the  Saints  repose  in  fruition. 

Oh,  if  one  had  but  a  spark  of  real  charity,  truly  would  he  feel 
that  all  earthly  things  are  full  of  vanity. 

OF    BEARING    THE    DEFECTS    OF    OTHERS. 

Whatever  a  man  cannot  amend  in  himself  or  in  others,  h« 
ought  to  bear  with  patience,  until  God  ordain  otherwise. 

Reflect  that  perhaps  it  is  better  so  for  thy  trial  and  patience, 
without  which  our  merits  are  little  worth. 

Nevertheless,  it  behoveth  thee,  under  such  hindra'ii'-es,  to 
pray,  that  God  would  vouchsafe  to  come  and  help  ther.  and  thar 
thou  mayest  be  able  to  bear  them  in  good  part. 

2.  If  any  one  once  or  twice  admonished  doth  h^t  comply, 
contend  not  with  him  ;  but  leave  it  all  to  God,  that  K is  will  may 
be  done,  and  He  be  honored  in  all  His  servants,  w'f^o  knoweth 
how  to  turn  evil  into  good. 

Study  to  be  patient  in  bearing  the  defects  anc*  mfirmities  oi: 
others,  of  what  kind  soever ;  for  thou  also  hast  many  things^ 
which  others  must  bear  with. 

If  thou  canst  not  make  thyself  such  as  thou  wouldst  be,  how 
canst  thou  expect  to  have  another  exactly  to  thy  mind  ? 

We  would  fain  see  others  perfect,  and  yet  our  own  faults  we 
amend  not. 

3.  We  would  have  others  strictly  corrected,  and  we  will  not 
be  corrected  ourselves. 


PRECIOUS    WORDS   FROM   THOMAS   A   KEMPIS.  669 

little,  but  will  commit  himself  wholly  and  confidingly  to  God. 
who  is  to  him  all  in  all ;  to  whom  nothing  is  lost  nor  dieth,  but 
for  whom  all  things  live,  and  at  whose  beck  they  instantly 
obey. 

1 1.  Ever  keep  in  mind  thine  end,  and  that  time  lost  returneth 
no  more. 

Without  care  and  diligence  thou  shalt  never  acquire  virtues. 

If  once  thou  beginnest  to  grow  lukewarm,  thou  beginnest  to 
be  in  a  bad  state. 

But  if  thou  give  thyself  to  fervor,  thou  shalt  find  great  peace  ; 
and  thou  shalt  feel  thy  labor  light,  through  the  grace  of  God 
and  for  the  love  of  virtue. 

The  fervent  and  diligent  man  is  ready  for  all  things. 

It  is  harder  labor  to  withstand  our  vices  and  passions  than  to 
toil  at  bodily  labors. 

He  that  shunneth  not  small  defects,  by  little  and  little  falleth 
into  greater. 

Thou  wilt  always  rejoice  in  the  evening,  if  thou  spend  the 
day  profitably. 

Watch  over  thyself,  stir  up  thyself,  admonish  thyself,  and. 
whatever  may  become  of  others,  neglect  not  thyself. 

In  proportion  as  thou  dost  violence  to  thyself,  the  greater 
progress  wilt  thou  make. 

OF  THE  ROYAL  ROAD  OF  THE  HOLY  CROSS. 

1.  To  many  this  seemeth  a  hard  saying  :  "  Deny  thyself,  take 
up  thy  cross,  and  follow  Jesus." 

But  it  will  be  much  harder  to  hear  that  last  word  :  "  Depart 
from  Me,  ye  cursed,  into  everlasting  fire." 

For  they  who  now  love  to  hear  and  follow  the  word  of  the 
Cross  shall  not  then  fear  the  sentence  of  eternal  condemnation. 

This  sign  of  the  Cross  shall  be  in  heaven  when  the  Lord  shall 
come  to  judge. 

Then  all  the  servants  of  the  Cross,  who  in  their  lifetime  have 
conformed  themselves  to  Him  that  was  crucified,  shall  come  to 
Christ  their  Judge  with  great  confidence. 

2.  Why,  then,  art  thou  afraid  to  take  up  thy  cross,  which 
leadeth  to  the  kingdom  ? 


664  THE   GLORIOUS   LIGHT   OF   CHRIST   CRUCIFIED. 

consolation ;  because  thou  wouldst  more  resemble  Christ,  and 
be  more  likened  to  all  the  Saints. 

For  our  merit,  and  the  advancement  of  our  state,  consists  not 
in  having  many  sweetnesses  and  consolations ;  but  rather  in 
bearing  great  afflictions  and  tribulations. 

If,  indeed,  there  had  been  anything  better,  and  more  benefi- 
cial to  man's  salvation,  than  suffering,  Christ  certainly  would 
have  showed  it  by  word  and  example. 

For  He  manifestly  exhorts  both  His  disciples  that  followed 
Him,  and  all  that  desire  to  follow  Him,  to  bear  the  Cross,  say- 
ing, "  If  any  one  will  come  after  Me,  let  him  deny  himself,  and 
take  up  his  cross,  and  follow  me." 

So  that  when  we  have  read  and  searched  all,  let  this  be  the 
final  conclusion,  that  "  through  many  tribulations  we  must  enter 
into  the  kingdom  of  God." 

OF   THE    OBEDIENCE    OF    AN     HUMBLE    SUBJECT,    AFTER     THE    EXAM- 
PLE    OF    JESUS    CHRIST. 

Son,  he  who  striveth  to  withdraw  himself  from  obedience 
withdraweth  himself  from  grace  ;  and  he  that  seeketh  particular 
privileges  loseth  such  as  are  in  common. 

He  who  doth  not  freely  and  willingly  submit  himself  to  his 
Superior,  it  is  a  sign  that  his  flesh  is  not  as  yet  perfectly  obedi- 
ent to  him,  but  oftentimes  rebelleth  and  murmureth. 

Learn,  then,  to  submit  thyself  readily  to  thy  Superior,  if  thou 
desire  to  subdue  thy  own  flesh. 

For  sooner  is  the  exterior  enemy  overcome,  if  the  inward 
man  be  not  laid  waste. 

There  is  not  a  more  troublesome  or  worst  enemy  to  the  soul 
than  thou  thyself  art  when  not  well  agreeing  with  the  spirit. 

Thou  must  in  good  earnest  conceive  a  true  contempt  of  thy- 
self, if  thou  wilt  prevail  against  flesh  and  blood. 

Because  thou  lovest  thyself  as  yet  too  inordinately,  therefore 
dost  thou  fear  to  resign  thyself  wholly  to  the  will  of  others. 

2.  But  what  great  matter  is  it,  if  thou,  who  art  but  dust  and 
a  mere  nothing,  submit  thyself  to  man  for  God's  sake,  when  I, 
the  Almighty  and  the  Most  High,  who  created  all  things  out  of 
nothing,  have  for  thy  sake  humbly  subjected  Myself  to  man  ? 


PRECIOUS   WORDS    FROM   THOMAS   1   KEMPIS. "  67t 

Whatever  beside  this  I  read  or  hear  doth  neither  recreate  noi 
fully  delight  me. 

4.  Son,  since  thou  knowest  these  things,  and  hast  read  them 
all,  happy  shalt  thou  be  if  thou  do  them. 

He  that  hath  My  commandments  and  keepeth  them,  he  it  is 
that  loveth  Me  ;  and  I  will  love  him,  and  will  manifest  Myself 
unto  him,  and  will  make  him  sit  with  Me  in  the  kingdom  of  My 
Father. 

5.  Lord  Jesus,  as  Thou  hast  said  and  hast  promised,  so  let  it 
be  indeed,  and  may  it  be  my  lot  to  merit  it. 

I  have  received,  I  have  received  from  Thy  hand,  the  Cross ; 
I  will  bear  it,  and  bear  it  even  unto  death,  as  Thou  hast  laid  it 
upon  me. 

Truly,  the  life  of  the  good  religious  is  a  cross  ;  but  it  is  also 
the  guide  to  paradise. 

We  have  begun  ;  we  may  not  go  back,  nor  may  we  leave  off. 

6.  Take  courage,  brethren  ;  let  us  go  forward  together ; 
Jesus  will  be  with  us. 

For  the  sake  of  Jesus,  we  have  taken  up  this  cross ;  for  Jesus' 
sake,  let  us  persevere  in  it. 

He  will  be  our  Helper,  who  is  our  Captain  and  our  Forerun- 
ner. 

Behold,  our  King  marcheth  before  us,  who  will  fight  for  us. 

Let  us  follow  Him  manfully  ;  let  no  one  fear  terrors;  let  us 
be  ready  to  die  valiantly  in  battle  ;  nor  let  us  bring  disgrace 
^pon  our  glory  by  flying  from  the  Cross. 

THE   VOICE   OF   CHRIST. 

Come  to  Me,  all  you  that  labor  and  are  burdened,  and  I  will 
refresh  you,  saith  the  Lord. 

The  bread  that  I  will  give  is  My  flesh,  for  the  life  of  the 
world. 

Take  ye  and  eat ;  this  is  My  body,  which  shall  be  delivered 
for  you  ;  this  do  for  the  commemoration  of  Me. 

He  that  eateth  My  flesh  and  drinketh  My  blood,  abideth  in 
Me,  and  I  in  him. 

The  words  that  I  have  spoken  to  you  are  spirit  and  life. 


584  THE  GLORIOUS  LIGHT   OF   CHRIST   CRUCIFIED. 

and  behind,  that  through  compassion  he  may  lament  the  sins  of 
others,  and  know  that  he  is  placed  in  the  midst,  between  God 
and  the  sinner. 

Neither  ought  he  to  grow  weary  of  prayer  and  holy  Obla 
tion,  until  he  deserve  to  obtain  grace  and  mercy. 

When  a  Priest  celebrateth,  he  honoreth  God,  he  rejolceth  the 
Angels,  he  edifieth  the  Church,  he  helpeth  the  living,  he  obtaineth 
rest  for  the  departed,  and  maketh  himself  partaker  of  all  things. 

A  SELF-INTERROGATION  CONCERNING  THE  EXERCISE    PROPER    BEFORE 

COMMUNION. 

The  Voice  of  the  Disciple. . 

When  I  consider  Thy  dignity,  O  Lord,  and  my  own  vileness, 
I  am  affrighted  exceedingly,  and  am  confounded  within  my- 
self. 

For  if  I  do  not  approach  Thee,  I  fly  from  life ;  and  if  1 
intrude  myself  unworthily,  I  incur  Thy  displeasure. 

What,  then,  shall  1  do,  O  my  God,  my  Helper  and  Counsellor 
in  necessities  ? 

2.  Do  Thou  teach  rre  the  right  way ;  set  before  me  some 
short  exercise  suitable  for  the  Holy  Communion. 

For  it  Is  well  to  know  after  what  manner,  indeed,  I  ought 
devoutly  and  reverently  to  prepare  my  heart  for  Thee,  for  the 
profitable  receiving  of  Thy  Sacrament,  as  well  as  for  celebrating 
so  great  and  divine  a  Sacrifice. 

OF   THE   examination    OF   OUR   OWN    CONSCIENCE,   AND   OF    A   RES- 
OLUTION   OF    AMENDMENT. 

The  Veice  of  the  Beloved. 

Above  all  things,  It  behooveth  the  Priest  of  God  to  come  to 
the  celebrating,  handling,  and  receiving  this  Sacrament  with  the 
greatest  humility  of  heart  and  lowly  reverence ;  with  a  full  faith, 
and  a  pious  intention  for  the  honor  of  God. 

Examine  diligently  thy  conscience,  and  to  the  best  of  thy 
power  cleanse  and  purify  it  by  true  contrition  and  humble  con- 
fession ;    so    that   thou    neither   have    nor   know    of   anything 


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